Mousehunt (1997)

Director:

Gore Verbinski

Writer (WGA):

Adam Rifkin (written by)

Release Date:

19 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

The funniest movie of the year!

Plot:

Two stumblebum inheritors are determined to rid their antique house of a mouse who is equally determined to stay where he is.

Plot Keywords:

Mouse | Factory | Auction | String Factory | Part Computer Animation

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Nathan Lane	...	Ernest "Ernie" Smuntz
Lee Evans	...	Lars Smuntz
Vicki Lewis	...	April Smuntz
Maury Chaykin	...	Alexander Falko
Eric Christmas	...	Ernie and Lars' Lawyer
Michael Jeter	...	Quincy Thorpe
Debra Christofferson	...	Ingrid
Camilla Søeberg	...	Hilde, the Bench Lady (as Camilla Soeberg)
Ian Abercrombie	...	Auctioneer
Annabelle Gurwitch	...	Roxanne Atkins
Eric Poppick	...	The Banker
Ernie Sabella	...	Maury, the Cat Care Society Owner
William Hickey	...	Rudolph Smuntz
Christopher Walken	...	Caeser, the Exterminator
Cliff Emmich	...	Mayor McKrinle

Also Known As:

Mouse Hunt (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
Mouse Trap (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, comic sensuality and mayhem.

Runtime:

98 min | Germany:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Philippines:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G (TV rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Belgium:KT | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Germany:6 (w) | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bass Lake, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Eric Christmas' last film.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The length of Ernie's hair changes between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lars: [at their father's funeral, they carry his coffin down the steps of a cathedral] Hold your end up higher, you're not holding it.
Ernie: I am too.
Lars: You are not.
Ernie: Don't worry about me. Hey, isn't that suit charcoal?
Lars: No.
Ernie: Looks charcoal gray to me, some gray polyester blend. Couldn't even find a black suit for your own father's funeral.
Lars: It's black.
Ernie: No, I'm sure it's gray.
Lars: It's black.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Soundtrack:

I'll Be Home For Christmas

a successful tribute to Tex Avery

What a pleasant comedy! Here's a movie that brings back a subject which was specific to the cartoons from the forties and fifties: the game of the cat and the mouse. Here, there's a real mouse and the cat is epitomized by the Schmuntz brothers who wish to get rid of her in order to sell an old but expensive house. The more the film advances, the more the traps prepared by Lars and Ernie Schmuntz are worked out: it begins with the simple, trivial trap: the mousetrap and it ends with the appearance of the mouse-exterminator ( an unexpected and irresistible Christopher Walken). In short, what it seems to be a child's play at the beginning of the movie, ends up becoming a merciless fight in which there'll be no winner, no loser... Gore Verbinski adopted an inventive and clever making and he rightly choose his actors. Nathan Lane and Lee Evans form an ideal duo, not very far from the legendary Laurel and Hardy. They've got a different personality but are united to kill this mouse. Moreover, the movie doesn't only focus on this "mouse hunt" but also on the Schmuntz brothers' efforts to earn money in order to save their father's string factory ( a world without string is chaos...). Let's add some hilarious and efficient gags ; the movie pays a tribute to Tex Avery. Dialogs that kick the bull's eye and some cues are powerful such as: "in this mouse's mind, you are the intruders" says Walken to the Schmuntz brothers. At last, the real mouse is, of course, a little pest (she's even compared to Hitler with a tail) but in parallel, Verbinski attempts to make her touching. At the end, a comedy without too many claims but efficient enough to please to a large public.