Willard (Crispin Glover) is a loser: beginning with the fact that, in the work arena, he is unable to meet the growing demands of the firm, and continuing with the aggravating fact that the business at which he serves as an employee was founded by his father.
But in addition to being decidedly frustrated with the work situation, Willard also succumbs to a sad situation in the family sphere: his mother is seriously ill, and recent moves to the apartment building's apartments have put colonies of rats in the basement in turmoil...
Alone, with no friends on whom to pour his sad thoughts, and titillated by constant humiliations to which Martin (R. Lee Ermey) his office manager subjects him, Willard sets out to arm himself with traps and "rodenticide" preparations, late in the evening meticulously placed in the basement.
The late-night springing of the traps awakens Willard, who hastily heads to the basement: a white mouse has become trapped in the glue dispensed on the floor.
The small, defenseless creature moves Willard to compassion, so much so that he immediately frees the animal from the fierce pitfall: not before, however, baptizing it with the name Socrates....
The alienating loneliness in which he finds himself, accompanied by daily humiliations culminating in his mother's dismissal and gradual physical decline, leads Willard to feel a deep affection for the mouse: an affection promptly reciprocated not only by "Socrates" (who has the privilege of sharing a bed with the human host), but by the entire legion of rats...
The process of empathy between Willard and the rats is consolidated into a kind of "hierarchical" bond within which the man commands the rats with the help of Socrates and a large, and touchy, rat (named Big Ben because of his immense size).
Aware of the fact that, in the past, his father took his own life as a result of debts caused by his business partner (and now Willard's employer) and "out of control" as a result of his dismissal, and the subsequent death of his mother, the idea of revenge begins to stir in the "paranoid" man's head.
To no avail is the apparent sympathy shown by the beautiful Cathryn (Laura Harring) who attempts, on several occasions, to get romantically close to Willard...
An extraordinary remake of a half-unknown film dated 1971 (Willard and the Mice), this film, directed by Glen Moran and co-written by the author of the original subject (Gilbert Ralston) not only surpasses the original model in narrative technique and staging, but stands as one of the best examples of remakes.
Ennobling the whole operation is the perfect empathy of the very talented Crispin Glover, as Willard, who sketches the character's psychology with profound precision thanks to incredibly effective mimicry and attitudes (which reach their maximum expression in the scene of the attempted "suicide") and an uncommon physique du rôle....
The figure of an underdog -destined and at the same time led to defeat- is presented to us with sophisticated psychological insight into the character; so much so that we come to feel, towards him, a wide and broad (as well as contradictory) range of feelings: sympathy and commiseration are converted into hatred and condemnation, when the final attitude of "betrayal" makes him an "individual" unacceptable even from the point of view of "the rats."....
But it is only in the film's closing that, The character's sense of isolation (well rendered by "old-time" clothing and corroborated by a nineteenth-century hairstyle), reaches its fullest expression and leaves room for a possible continuation....
A very good script (with disruptive bursts of macabre irony, such as when Willard receives a cat as a gift) and an excellent set design, flavored by a use of lighting that points to "sepia," with shrewd use of wide angles and soft lighting make the film a valuable example of "Great Cinema."
The use of rats (real, except for the one sequence in the prequel using CG) and the use of excellent supporting characters surrounding Willard make the story believable and truthful. Prominent among the performers is the very talented/perverse R. Lee Ermey, already seen as the evil Sheriff in the remake of Don't Open That Door (and also present in the prequel, TCM: The Beginning); and no lesser figure is the characterization, of the beautiful and refined Laura Harring, as the sensitive Cathryn ...
The film, shot in 2003, is the work of a director no stranger to macabre and horrific themes: in addition to the X -Files and Millennium television series, his is the contribution (in screenplay) to Final Destination, a series to which he recently returned (in a similar role) by contributing to the script of Final Destination 3.
While few will remember (in a marginal role) Crispin Glover in Friday the 13th: Final Chapter (The fourth film in the series dedicated to Jason). While the same actor, after making his directorial debut during 2005, starred in another horror film to be released during 2006: Simon Says....
Thanks to Edwige Fenech and Luciano Martino (Italian promoters of the film) who, two years later, allowed this "gem" to find distribution in theaters.
Review by Undying1
