Stuart Little film review

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STUART LITTLE

In the pantheon of great movie mice - Mickey, Minnie, Jerry, Fievel - dapper-suited Stuart Little (voiced by Michael J Fox) stands head, shoulders and tail above the rest of the pack. He's charming, clever and enthusiastic, can talk just like you or me and looks great in plaid pyjamas.

Stuart lives at a New York City orphanage where he is spotted by Mr and Mrs Little (Hugh Laurie and Geena Davis) who are looking to adopt a baby brother or sister for their precocious son George (Jonathan Lipnicki). Immediately enamoured of the sensitive mouse, they decide to welcome Stuart into their home.

George isn't particularly thrilled about the prospect of a rodent brother and shuns the new addition to the household, badly bruising Stuart's fragile feelings. The little guy's sense of disappointment turns to horror when he has a closerun-in with the pampered family cat Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane) who is understandably furious about sharing his personal space with lunch. Mother and Father Little try to keep the peace. "We do not eat family members," Mrs Little warns the scheming feline, but progress is slow.

Thankfully, George and Stuart soon bond but Snowbell is much more resistant to the mouse's presence, enraged that someone who is lower down the food chain should be treated with more respect and love than he. Determined to erase Stuart from the family album, Snowbell hooks up with a pair of vicious street cats called Monty (voiced by Steve Zahn) and Smokey (Chazz Palminteri) and concocts a cunning plan to kill the mouse while the Little's backs are turned.

Adapted from EB White's enchanting book, Stuart Little is a small family adventure with a big, big heart, creating an instantly believable world in which animals and humans can talk and interact.

Laurie, Davis and Lipnicki play their parts with the utmost seriousness, as if a talking mouse was the most natural thing in the world. Their interaction with Stuart is seamless: kissing him goodnight, rescuing him from drowning in the washing machine and so on.

Stuart himself is an amazing conflation of computer jiggery pokery and Michael J Fox's excellent vocal talents. He is arguably the most real and sympathetic character in the whole film and often upstages the human actors.