Movie Info

RATING:

PG

RELEASE:

July 19, 2002

TIME:

84 minutes

STARRING:

Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Jonathan Lipnicki, Geena Davis, Melanie Griffith, Hugh Laurie, James Woods, and Steve Zahn

DIRECTOR:

Rob Minkoff

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:

Jeff Franklin, Steve Waterman, Rob Minkoff, Gail Lyon, and Jason Clark

WRITERS:

Bruce Joel Rubin

BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED BY:

E.B. White

DISTRIBUTOR:

Columbia Pictures/Sony

GENRE:

Comedy/Action-Adventure

INTENDED AUDIENCE:

All ages

 

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MOVIE REVIEW

Stuart Little 2

By Ted Baehr
Movieguide Magazine

What's This?

CBN.com - Stuart Little 2 is a great little story. Better written than the original, it is one of the best-written movies of the year. The audience at the press screening started clapping a couple of minutes before the end. Older teenagers said they loved it. Press junket attendees glowed with descriptions of how good this story is.

What a joy it is to watch a movie that is well written, especially when it’s full of loving family values.

The movie opens with Stuart and his brother George, played wonderfully by Jonathan Lipnicki, going off to play in their first soccer game. Mrs. Little, played by Geena Davis, is deeply concerned that one of the players will step on Stuart. Mr. Little, played by Hugh Laurie, assures her that Stuart has to grow up.

George is growing up, too. He finds it more interesting to spend time with his friends than with his adopted mouse brother. Stuart feels rejected, but Mr. Little gives Stuart a wonderful talk that every cloud has a silver lining and that Stuart will find his own friend.

Later, as Stuart drives his little red roadster, a bird named Margalo falls into the seat next to him. Pursuing Margalo is an evil falcon, the animal crime lord of the city. They escape the falcon, and Stuart invites Margalo to stay at the Little house.

Margalo is not the wounded bird that she appears to be, however. She is one of Falcon’s henchwomen. She responds to Stuart and all the love in the Little house, but Falcon forces her to steal Mrs. Little’s diamond ring. Stuart, not understanding who Margalo is, heads off to rescue her, with the help of a reluctant Snowbell the cat. This is one of the most dramatic rescues in movie history.

Stuart Little 2 is an incredible story. Every joke is on time and on target. Character arcs are clear. The suspense is exciting. The ingenuity is dramatic. It is the exact opposite of the hapless Men in Black 2, where the timing seemed to be off for almost every joke.

Furthermore, the Little family is the type of family any child would want. They are loving, wise, and full of concern and hope. Stuart convinces George to lie to cover his journey to rescue Margalo, but the lying is rebuked and love prevails in the attitude of the Little parents. Stealing is also rebuked, and repentance is woven into the fabric of the movie.

Several prayers are offered in Stuart Little 2. One of them is dramatically answered. The falcon is a worthwhile villain, but not too intense for younger children in the imagination stage from three to seven. Snowbell, voiced by Nathan Lane, is hilarious, although Snowbell makes a couple of scatological statements, which are so few that they all appear in the commercial for the movie.

Stuart Little 2 is a must-see movie for families. It is as good as a family movie gets.

Please address your comments to:

Amy Pascal, Chairman
Columbia Pictures
John Calley, Chairman/CEO
Sony Pictures Entertainment
10202 West Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232-3195
Phone: (310) 244-4000
Fax: (310) 244-2626
Web Page: www.spe.sony.com/

The previous reviews are a selected sample of informative reviews from MOVIEGUIDE: A FAMILY GUIDE TO MOVIES AND ENTERTAINMENT, a syndicated feature of Good News Communications, Inc. To subscribe to MOVIEGUIDE, which includes a complete set of at least 10 reviews of the latest movies as well as many informative articles, please visit their Web site at http://www.movieguide.org/, or write or call:

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