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      Rat

      PG Released Apr 27, 2000 1 hr. 31 min. Fantasy List
      Reviews 58% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Irresponsible drunk Hubert (Pete Postlethwaite) stumbles home from a night at the pub and wakes up transformed into a rat. His wife, Conchita (Imelda Staunton), and his children -- son Pius (Andrew Lovern) and daughter Marietta (Kerry Condon) -- don't know quite what to do with their rodent patriarch, but they start to like him better this way. Soon, a smooth-talking ghostwriter (David Wilmot) convinces them to write a book on their experiences and make Hubert a local celebrity. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Overall Amusing! Imelda Staunton gave a wonderful performance! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review jesse o I doubt I'd have much to say about this film other than it was fairly innocent and inoffensive. It's certainly not perfect and the humor is certainly inconsistent. Inconsistent in the sense that it tries to be like The Muppets, where kid-friendly humor gives way to darker, more adult-oriented humor, ironically the Jim Henson Company did some creature work in this film, but it doesn't really work as well as it does in The Muppets. But there are some funny moments, it's just that the two types of humor don't really mesh well together in the final product. The story is predictable, most of the family is overcome by greed when they see how much money they can make off of Hubert's story and they make decisions they normally wouldn't have made otherwise if it wasn't for Phelim egging them on so he could get a better story, while selling them bullshit that the book itself would be a positive portrayal of the family. I found that the story itself was a little too perfectly resolved. And it sure takes a lot of bollocks for the guiltiest of those in the family to be upset at Phelim for writing down the truth in the book. Yes, he certainly had a hand in manipulating the events, but any one of them could've protested and refused to do what was suggested by Phelim. In many ways, they were just as bad, even in being manipulated, as Phelim himself. So it's really hard to buy all the outrage from the family, except Marietta, who was the only one who cared for Hubert, when all that was written about them was 100% true. If he embellished certain aspects, or just flat out lied, that'd be one thing, but he told the truth. So that was poorly written, at least in my opinion. Another thing that I found odd was how everybody in the town seemed to take it for a fact that Hubert had, in fact, turned into a rat. Maybe they were playing along with the family to get a laugh at their expense, but it really wasn't played up that way. That was a little goofy, but I was fine with that, it was actually one of the better parts of the film. The absurdity behind the idea certainly helped. Not a bad film at all, it's an average with a nice message, but it's definitely a flawed film. A good cast keeps it from being much worse. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a very sweet and funny parable, featuring some of the finest acting Britain has to offer and an excellent soundtrack covering pop music spanning many decades. Yes the accents can be a bit hard on American ears at times, but the script is littered with many gems. Give it a chance, you'll be glad that you did. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Hilarious, low-budget, irish awesomeness Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member It took me a while to warm up to this movie. But by the end I was thoroughly enjoying it's quirky Irish humour. Do yourself a favour and watch something 'out of the box'. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member hilarious movie. It was surprisingly brilliant. The real thing that makes this film so good is the acting done by the cast, particualrly imelda staunton, who does a fantastic job. Although the end is a bit predicatable, and the actual filming is not the best, the jokes are frequent and very very funny. I really liked the scene when the rat is thrown beyond a wall. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      David N. Butterworth La Movie Boeuf "Rat" is an absurdist yarn that eventually outstays its welcome despite magnificent work by Imelda Staunton (vile Professor Umbridge in the Harry Potter films). Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 29, 2017 Full Review Jeremy Heilman Apollo Guide Rated: 34/100 Dec 9, 2001 Full Review Christopher Null Filmcritic.com Aims a little too high to be kid-friendly and far too low to be of interest to many grown-ups. Rated: 2/5 Aug 4, 2001 Full Review Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews While "Rat" offers some boisterous fun, in the end it doesn't add up to much more than paean to family values. Rated: B- May 23, 2001 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Irresponsible drunk Hubert (Pete Postlethwaite) stumbles home from a night at the pub and wakes up transformed into a rat. His wife, Conchita (Imelda Staunton), and his children -- son Pius (Andrew Lovern) and daughter Marietta (Kerry Condon) -- don't know quite what to do with their rodent patriarch, but they start to like him better this way. Soon, a smooth-talking ghostwriter (David Wilmot) convinces them to write a book on their experiences and make Hubert a local celebrity.
      Director
      Steve Barron
      Executive Producer
      Brian Henson, Stephanie Allain, Stewart Till
      Screenwriter
      Wesley Burrowes
      Distributor
      Universal Focus
      Production Co
      Jim Henson Productions, Ruby Films
      Rating
      PG (Brief Nudity|Language)
      Genre
      Fantasy
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Apr 27, 2000, Wide
      Release Date (DVD)
      Jun 1, 2004
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $3.0K