Mousehunt - A Movie Review

You went after a little mouse and destroyed the house!

Mousehunt scurried into theaters in 1996. After the death of their father, brothers Ernie and Lars are left to take over the family string factory. They also discover an antique house that is worth a lot of money. Only, a little mouse makes things hard creating chaos all around the house.

I have watched Mousehunt since I was a kid. I laughed and laughed. Recently, I came across Mousehunt as an adult and watched it. The film is not perfect based purely on comedy. It still manages to find a satisfying moral.

Nathan Lane and Lee Evans play brothers. Ernie and Lars don’t see eye to eye. Their comedic chemistry is the best. Evans was a bit over the top, acting very cartoonish. Just watch the way he runs or the exaggerated faces he makes. Then again, that is the whole point of the comic atmosphere of Mousehunt.

The men are not dealing with your average mouse. Sneaky, conniving, and smart, I adore this mouse! All the mice (and rat stunt doubles) were directed very well. You feel like you know him.

In my most recent watch of Mousehunt of the hundreds of times I watched it as a kid, my friend pointed out this significant theory about the mouse. It changed the film for me.

Mousehunt would not be what it is without its fantastic ensemble. Viewers are sure to recognize some actors, some who have had versatile roles in the film world. Credits include Vicki Lewis, Maury Chaykin, Debra Christofferson, and Camilla Soeberg. Oh yes, and a memorable appearance by Christopher Walken as an overly-intelligent bug exterminator.

It includes a couple of noteworthy actors who have passed. I have seen the late Eric Christmas in a few films growing up. The late Michael Jeter was always a wonderful character actor. Ill at the time of filming his scenes, this was William Hickey’s final film. Sadly, he passed away at the end of filming.

Smashed apart, covered in filth, and flooded, the house used for filming sure takes a beating. It becomes its own character across the film.

Mousehunt is reminiscent of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. We don’t have a lot of films nowadays that are live-action comedies. It becomes over-the-top with all the situations Ernie and Lars get themselves into. Plus, there’s a lot of fighting, mainly bickering between the main characters. That doesn’t mean that the comedy isn’t clever.

In his directorial debut, Gore Verbinski did not let the cartoonish factor stop him from creating Mousehunt. He took a risk in one scene. No CGI was used in the scene where 800 mousetraps are set up! That’s right, filmmakers had to bait and set all those traps several times while the scene was filmed. That is the definition of commitment.

Mousehunt is not just a witty comedy. That’s the whole reason why I watched it when I was a kid. The relationship between the brothers and the father never struck me. Movies change so much when you’re an adult. That’s what I like about them.

With the new symbolism of the mouse, the film has more of a deeper meaning than you realize. Listen closely when Ernie and Lars are bickering about their father. Because I was a child, I never paid attention to how Ernie felt like an outcast in his father's eyes.

Mousehunt is a fun film for kids. Except, it incorporates too much cartoon violence which may not be suitable for some age groups. Find it and have a laugh.