Mousehunt (1997)

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

Director:

Gore Verbinski

Writer:

Adam Rifkin

Stars:

Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Vicki Lewis

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nathan Lane	...	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

Storyline

A family film about a mouse that lives in an old house where the geriatric owner dies, and 'Nathan Lane' and Lee Evans have plans for, but they have trouble getting rid of the mouse. It's like Home Alone with a mouse.

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Plot Keywords:

mouse | factory | auction | string factory | black comedy | 

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Taglines:

TheMouse Never Dies

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language, comic sensuality and mayhem

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 December 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mouse Trap

Filming Locations:

Bass Lake, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£975,360 (UK) (3 April 1998)

Gross:

£7,902,226 (UK) (10 July 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The voice talents behind Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King appear in the movie. Nathan Lane (Ernie Smuntz) voiced Timon. Maury, the pound owner is played by Ernie Sabella, the voice of Pumbaa.

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Goofs

The bite marks in the vegetarian snack that Alexander Falko bites into, disappear throughout the next shots of him biting into it.

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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.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Siskel & Ebert: Deep Impact/Woo/Clockwatchers/Little Men/Artemisia/In Our Own Hands (1998)

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Soundtracks

"I'll Be Home For Christmas"
Written by Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, and Buck Ram
Arranged by Bruce L. Fowler
Performed by the Los Angeles Children's Chorus Ensemble
Daryl Getman, Gavin Hale, Julia Long, Adrienne Pardee, Mark Perry, Amy Sargious, Jonathan Saul, Chai-Fu Wang, and Julia Wells
Anne Tomlinson, Artistic Director

User Reviews

Predictable..... But Fun!

Nathan Lane and Lee Evans star in this fun and sometimes touching film as brothers Ernie and Lars who inherit a mansion from their father. They are really dissapointed when the mansion turns out to be an old dump! They're keen when they find out that it's worth an absolute mint! They go about selling it to a collector of LaRue houses for loadsa dosh but there's one problem.....the mouse living in it! Throughout most of the movie we see the two comic stars chasing after the mouse and coming off the worse for it! It's fairly predictable but still very funny and the storyline and the scripts are actually quite original. Nathan Lane was pretty good in this movie as was Lee Evans. I'd say that this movie appeals to adults and kids because it has a decent storyline and engaging comic moments. 8/10