Stuart Little

Comedy, Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Michael J. Fox	Stuart Little
Geena Davis	Mrs. Eleanor Little
Hugh Laurie	Mr. Fredrick Little
Jonathan Lipnicki	George Little
Nathan Lane	Snowbell
Jim Doughan	Detective Allen/Voice of Lucky
David Alan Grier	Red
Bruno Kirby	Mr. Reginald Stout
Chazz Palminteri	Smokey
Steve Zahn	Monty the Mouth

Director	Rob Minkoff
Producer	Douglas Wick
Writer	E.B. White; M. Night Shyamalan

This live-action version of EB White's novel doesn't have quite the magic of, say, Toy Story. Stuart Little is squarely aimed, and successfully so, at the 4- to 10-year-old viewer. Does this make it a bad family film? Not in the slightest. The gee-whiz visual effects (created by original Star Wars wizard John Dykstra) and the film's ebullient wholesomeness make this a welcome addition to the home library.

In EB White's world, it's hardly surprising that human parents would adopt "outside their species". The smooth-talking mouse Stuart (voiced by Michael J. Fox) seems the perfect new child for parents Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie, especially with an adorable wardrobe of very small sweaters and pants. Stuart has more difficulty fitting in with the Little's family cat, Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane, who also deftly voiced Timon in director Rob Minkoff's last feature, The Lion King). The simple story deals with Stuart trying to fit in with his new life, including big brother George (Jerry Maguire's scene-stealing Jonathan Lipnicki). And of course there's an adventure when Snowbell's schemes put Stuart into real danger from the devious plans of an alley cat named Smokey (voiced by Chazz Palminteri). Brisk--85 minutes--amusing, and tolerably cute, Stuart Little stands tall. Two curios: The effects are so cleanly done that we could call Stuart the first successfully computer-animated actor, and the screenplay was co-written by M. Night Shyamalan, who made bigger waves in 1999 writing and directing The Sixth Sense. --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com