Mouse Hunt

Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast:
Nathan Lane
Lee Evans
Maury Chaykin
Christopher Walken

When their father dies, a pair of bumbling brothers (Nathan Lane and Lee Evans) are left with two things they think are worthless: the family string plant ("Smuntz String"), and an old house that turns out to be a lost architectural classic. When they try to fix up the house for an auction worth millions, they meet their match in a brilliant mouse who is determined to get them back for destroying his home.

Okay, sounds stupid, right? "Home Alone" for mice? Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are to report that "Mouse Hunt" was absolutely fantastic. Nathan Lane (the comic genius behind "The Birdcage" and Broadway's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum") is so freakin' hilarious in this thing that half the admittedly-small audience at the Beverly Center lost their Cokes. And the finale, an implosion worthy of the great physical comedy spectaculars of the '30s, is well worth the price of your Raisinets.

With the time-worn sheen of a classic Christmas movie, the animatronic brilliance of the 21st century, and the comic feel and timing of the early Coen brothers, "Mouse Hunt" is an unexpected stocking-stuffer. Try it out.

—Ian Williams

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