This movie is definitely cute. I'll give it that.
And the computer-animated Stuart, is even cuter. His likeness was done extremely well: fur, clothes, and all. This anthropomorphic mouse had such real and vivid emotional expressions that only a grinch or a scrooge could not feel moved.
Michael J. Fox is perfect for the voice of the mouse who becomes part of a human family: Stuart Little.
Jonathan Lipnicki (the little guy from Jerry Maguire) is great as Stuart's older brother.
Hugh Laurie, as Mr. Little, gives us that perfect image of a story-book father.
Geena Davis (not seen in Hollywood since The Long Kiss Goodnight), however, was the best of all. I loved her cheerful and corny enthusiasm, which contrasted wonderfully with her heartfelt sadness and brokenheartedness when Stuart was separated from the family.
The story for this film, based on the popular books by E.B. White, is simple enough for a young child to understand, and it evokes themes which are beneficial to anyone's ethical development. After having seen Toy Story 2, however, it seemed too simplistic and devoid of content. Although, one could argue that Toy Story 2 had too much in it which took away from the main story of the film, and that Stuart Little is truer to a child's understanding and mentality. My four-year-old seemed to take everything in. She was happy, sad, frightened, and joyous at just the right times as influenced by the movie.
Little family photo
What really was great about this film, though, was how much of the screen time was devoted to just the computer-animated mice and/or the cats (with computer-animated mouths). There were entire scenes featuring Snowbell, the pet cat, expressing his humiliation at having a mouse for an owner. Snowbell then arranges for Stuart to be "removed" from the scene, and a local "Godfather" cat agrees to help. There were many great Godfather liners thrown in there for the adults as well.
Very cute.
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