Summary:
The Little family - Frederick (Hugh Laurie), Eleanor (Geena Davis), and George (Jonathan Lipnicki) - want an addition to their family. When Frederick and Eleanor visit the orphanage they end up talking to a mouse who happens to be just the addition to their family they are looking for. When they bring Stuart (Michael J. Fox - voice) home, George seems to realize, though no one else does, that Stuart isn't human; he's a mouse. Stuart and George don't get off on the best foot.
The Littles also happen to have a cat, Snowbell (Nathan Lane - voice), who can't handle being the pet of a mouse. Snowbell enlists the aid of some ally cats to get rid of Stuart, but the plan only takes effect after Stuart works his way into George's life and they become very close. Eventually Stuart is spirited away and it is only through the combined efforts of the Littles, Snowbell, and Stuart that he is able to return to his family.
My Comments:
I knew this was a kids movie going into it; for some reason my wife didn't seem to. Anyway, I figured that since there was already a sequel that the first must have been pretty good. And, in its own way I think it was, but for kids. My wife and I weren't very entertained. We also found the movie to be very predictable.
So, I don't think that I can really offer a good opinion on this movie. I thought it was cute, it had a good message, it was kind of fun, but it just isn't something that appeals to adults and, well, we don't have any kids, so it just didn't work for us. We were almost rooting for George when he pointed out the obvious - Stuart is a mouse. It was as if no one else seemed to realize this, let alone care. Granted, the point is that differences shouldn't be a big deal, but when you're an adult and you aren't considering the entertainment value for children, the movie takes on a very different tone.
I need to make two comments about the movie, though. First, both my wife and I love Jonathan Lipnicki. We saw him first in Jerry MacGuire and think he's a great child actor. Now, whether or not he is really a great actor or if we just feel a certain closeness to him because he isn't the best-looking kid but has a great smile and is always cast in roles where he just fits perfectly, I don't know. He's great in this, just like he is in most of the movies he's been in. Also, Geena Davis was actually surprisingly good. It was kind of fun to see her in a role like this - it's definitely not Thelma and Louise.
Anyway, it's probably a great movie for kids, but if you aren't a kid, it's probably not one that you'll want to go out of your way to see. We got if from the library, so we didn't feel like we were out anything, especially since we used the time during the movie to exercise. Otherwise, it definitely wouldn't have been worth renting it and giving it our sole attention.
