Stuart Little 2

Saying that Stuart Little 2 is the best movie opening this week is definitely in the damning with faint praise department. It’s simply that it’s not as pompous and overbearing as K-19, nor as wrong-headed as Eight Legged Freaks. But I’d hardly call it a genuinely good movie. It’s slick — maybe too slick — and it’s solid and professional. It’s blessedly short (78 minutes) so it doesn’t wear out its welcome. However, it’s definitely in the category of a movie you can take the kids to without entertaining wistful thoughts of the comparative charms of oral surgery, but not the sort of “family” film really apt to appeal to anyone over the age of 10. It’s overstuffed with life-lessons, and even at 78 minutes, its story feels more than a little padded. The whole plot involves a strange inter-species romance between Stuart the mouse (Michael J. Fox) and a little yellow bird named Margalo (Melanie Griffith) — a situation viewed by Stuart’s human parents (Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie) simply as Stuart having found a friend his own size. Well, fair enough. If I have to accept a world wherein no one thinks anything of a talking, sports-car driving mouse and takes him as a member of a human family, I can accept this. Alas, Stuart’s new friend is really a scam artist in the employ of the Falcon (James Woods) who wants her to steal Mrs. Little’s diamond ring. When she does and disappears, Stuart assumes she’s been kidnapped and sets out to rescue her. That’s pretty much the whole story. And while it’s all so obviously designed for the sandbox set, I’m not at all sure why the filmmakers thought Gilbert O’Sullivan’s 1972 hit, “Alone Again (Naturally),” was a good choice to convey Stuart’s alienation to that audience — or possibly even to their parents. Perhaps, they assumed that grandparents would catch the pop song shorthand. Who knows? For that matter, the inclusion of Stuart and Margola watching Hitchcock’s Vertigo as an indication of Margola being a femme fatale conning Stuart is another odd choice. However, things like this help to pass the time when thinking about the movie. The worst aspect of the film is its God-awful cheeriness. You know you’re in for it when the movie opens with a gliding shot up to a pristine never-never land Manhattan while “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” permeates the soundtrack — and the film delivers on everything that promises. These characters are so upbeat that it’s hard not to wish for a tranquilizer gun. The comedy aspects of the film are almost all handed over to Nathan Lane as the voice of the family cat, Snowbell. Lane is something of an acquired taste that I’ve never quite acquired, but his presence here is certainly a blessing (though why his best line — “This is now officially a litter box” — that was showcased in the film’s trailer isn’t actually in the film, I don’t know). Certain aspects of the film don’t make a lot of sense. Do all animals in the world of the film talk as a matter of course? The humans in the film certainly understand and converse with Stuart and Margola, but it appears that only other animals are privy to the verbalizings of Snowbell, the Falcon and Snowbell’s friend, Monty (Steve Zahn). Why? And what exactly is the time period here? Mr. and Mrs. Little are like characters out of a 1950s sitcom (Mrs. Little is so June Cleaveresque that she wears pearls while doing housework). If the film is lacking logically and dramatically, it can’t be faulted in terms of clever production. I might not buy its well-scrubbed, sunny and safe Manhattan, but I can’t deny that it’s brilliantly achieved. Stuart’s actual adventure rescuing Margola is entertaining and well-handled. The voice actors are all exemplary. James Wood makes a splendidly nasty villain (“Never make a friend I can eat”) and Michael J. Fox clearly is Stuart Little. I wouldn’t recommend it for adults, but at least adults being dragged to it by children aren’t likely to find it painful. Why do I not think I’ll be saying that about The Country Bears, which opens this week?