mrtnn I honestly can't explain why this movie got so many positive postings. It's dreadful. Great actors (Pete Postlewaite and Imelda Staunton) had to have signed onto this weak script for the cash, not the script. It was 91 minutes long. I got the idea (not much of one) in about 2 minutes. The remaining 89 minutes creep along, with barely a joke. I did watch the entire film, most of all because I was in a state of shock by how un-funny it was.If you're looking for Jim Henson-like mouse/rat effects, rent "The Witches", which is about a million times more entertaining than this film, and contains clever mouse effects.As for this film....Go get a Guiness and watch something better.

catretainer I saw this film just after seeing the second Stuart Little film, "Stuart Little 2" (2002). The comparison between the two films makes for much hilarity. The skills in an emergency shown by Hubert's wife, Conchita (Imelda Staunton), versa the more motherly reactions of Mrs. Eleanor Little (Geena Davis) is a particularly hilarious contrast. I would have preferred more scenes with Peter Postlethwaite as himself. If you think Stuart Little is so sweet it will give you diabetes, then "Rat" is the perfect film for you! SPOILER - the sequence with the washer machine and subsequent actions on the part of Ms. Staunton's character is one of the darkest and funniest parts of this film.

Zen Bones I've always found popular Irish comedies like `Waking Ned Devine' to be either overkill on the charm, or like `The Van', to be overkill on the sardonic wit. This film truly nails the balance of charm and sardonic wit, and it also has an energy that I haven't seen since `A Hard Day's Night'. Bob Geldof –formerly of The Boomtown Rats (!) – was the musical consultant, and the score is mixed with bouncy pop songs in the background that seem to recall the joy of that era. The film opens with a fable-like narration letting us know that we're into the kind of Irish story-telling that is of its past (i.e. deliciously wicked!). Personally, I'm grateful to see this kind of story-telling still alive and not reflective of the new generic Ireland that's looking more and more like the USA. There already is a `Babe' and a `Stuart Little', so why make those films over again? This film stands on its own, and it can certainly entertain adults every bit as much as kids. I found it to be one of the funniest films I've seen in years! The key to much of the humour is in its subtlety. One definitely has to have a love of the absurd in its most subtle form (like one of my favourite scenes, when the desperately ill rat is thrown in the washing machine so it will look nice and clean when the priest comes to exorcise it). The cast is magnificent, especially Imelda Staunton whose personality is more rat-like than her husband, but can switch emotional gears faster than her husband can scamper across the floor. And of course, Pete Postlethwaite does actually look like he's `half-way there already' in terms of his physical appearance. I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. A sweeter rat you've never seen!

Lee Bartholomew Love every minute of it. Perhaps a little too irish in the dialect but awesome in story telling. Despite the fact there is an A** in here, kids should have no problem with it. It's so weird that it tells it as if this is all normal. Gee so your father turned into a rat. Something normal for ye.9/10Quality: 10/10 (kicka** camera shots) Entertainment: 9/10 Replayable: 10/10