Hunt for a Better Movie

Part Home Alone and part Henry's Awful Mistake, Mouse Hunt is the chaotic tale of a pair of estranged brothers united in the effort to sell their recently deceased father's antique mansion. Ernie Smuntz (Nathan Lane) is a chef who has just lost his job because of an unfortunate (and thoroughly disgusting) incident involving the mayor and a dinner which includes a roach as an uninvited ingredient. Obnoxious and manipulative, he only seems concerned with milking the most out of his father's inheritance.

Lars Smuntz (Lee Evans) is a pitiable fellow who shares his father's love of string and is determined to do what his father would want him to. He is the gentler of the pair, initially more reluctant to cause physical harm to the four-legged houseguest who will soon make the brothers' lives miserable. Recently separated from his money-loving and heartless wife, Lars joins Ernie in moving into the creepy old mansion his father left them. It seems to be a dusty old dump until a set of blueprints reveals that it was designed by a world-famous architect. Soon they are busy preparing for the grand unveiling of the house and concern themselves with getting it in perfect condition for the auction.

Their attention is soon diverted, however, when they discover a mouse in their house. For some reason, they decide to focus all of their efforts on disposing of this uninvited houseguest, taking ridiculous measures and destroying the house in the process. Not only is the mouse tiny, he's crafty and manages to beat the brothers at their game every time. Minutes after the first meeting with the mouse, I could see this was going to be a very long movie. I found myself groaning over and over again, wondering how these two could possibly be so stupid. Just leave the mouse alone, already! What the heck is the big deal?

A monster cat and a psychotic exterminator (Christopher Walken) fail to foil the mouse's determination to survive, and each plot turns out more disastrous than the last. The mouse has no great hatred against the brothers; all of the damage he causes them is an unavoidable side effect of his attempts at survival. In the end he wins, and the brothers, after losing their house to their furry nemesis, finally learn to combine their talents to create a business that both of them can enjoy. Who shows them the way? Why, the mouse, of course. And in the end, they're all the best of friends.

The slapstick is overwhelming in this movie; it's just about all there is. And while a couple of pratfalls are good for a laugh, an hour and a half of them gave me a monster headache. It was much too far-fetched to be funny for long, and much too painful. None of the characters was especially likable, with the possible exception of the mouse, but few were despicable. They were just sorta there, and their personalities were inconsistent throughout the film. "Since you are lukewarm I shall spit you out of my mouth..." That's what I suggest you do with this movie.