MouseHunt (film)
| MouseHunt | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Gore Verbinski |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Adam Rifkin |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael |
| Edited by | Craig Wood |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $38 million |
| Box office | $122.4 million |
MouseHunt is a 1997 American black comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Adam Rifkin and starring Nathan Lane and Lee Evans, and featured William Hickey, who died shortly after the film was shot. It was the first family film to be released by DreamWorks Pictures.
In the story, two Laurel-and-Hardy-like brothers struggle against one small house mouse for possession of a house that was willed to them by their father. The intelligent and crafty mouse outwits them completely. The film is set in a humorously indeterminate 20th century time period, with styles ranging from the 1940s to the 1970s to the 1990s.
When once-wealthy string magnate Rudolf Smuntz (William Hickey) dies, he leaves his outdated string factory and a run-down mansion to his two sons, Lars (Lee Evans) and Ernie (Nathan Lane). When Lars refuses a proposal by representatives from the large Zeppco conglomerate to purchase their string factory, his wife April (Vicki Lewis) throws him out. Meanwhile, Ernie serves Mayor McKrinkle (Cliff Emmich) at his restaurant in anticipation of becoming a famous chef for serving such a high-profile guest. However, the mayor is poisoned by a cockroach (which came from Rudolf's old box of Cuban cigars that Ernie took for himself) and suffers two heart attacks, with the latter fatal. As a result, Ernie's restaurant is closed down by the Board of Health.
Finding blueprints of the mansion that they decide to live in, Ernie and Lars discover that it is a lost masterpiece designed by famous architect Charles Lyle LaRue. LaRue collector Alexander Falko (Maury Chaykin) makes a proposal, but Ernie refuses under the belief they can make a larger profit by restoration and auction. However, the brothers have already realized that the house has one stubborn occupant: a tiny and treacherous mouse. When a single mousetrap proves to be useless against the mouse, Ernie and Lars cover the entire kitchen floor with a number of mousetraps, but end up trapped in the kitchen when the door is locked. The mouse slips through the maze of traps with ease and drops a cherry, setting off the mousetraps in a dominoes effect. The brothers attempt to kill the mouse with a vacuum cleaner, but are covered with sewage.
...
Wikipedia