The question “Are you a man or a mouse?” gets a whole new meaning in “The Tale of Despereaux,” an animated feature about rodents.
The movie is about other things, too: bravery, class, nonconformity. But mice and rats take centerstage.
Despereaux (voiced by Matthew Broderick) is a very small mouse with unnaturally big ears. When he goes to mouse school to learn how to be frightened and nervous like all good mice, he shows signs of pluck and fortitude. This mouse is not easily intimidated.
Instead of eating the old books in the library, Despereaux has been reading them — and tales of derring-do and fair maidens are much on his mind. As chance would have it, there is a fair maiden, a princess (Emma Watson) no less, near at hand.
As we watch Despereaux’s tail, I mean tale, we also meet a humble rat named Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman). Being a rat, Roscuro has even less elevated dreams than your average mouse, and he is consigned to the smelly underworld where rats live.
The fates of these two cuddly rodents will be joined. We’re pretty sure of that from the beginning, because the nice “once upon a time” narrator (Sigourney Weaver) suggests as much.
“The Tale of Despereaux” is based on a book by Kate Di-Camillo, which used different perspectives to weave its spell. The movie, directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen, doesn’t knit those pieces evenly; a sideplot about a homely servant girl (Tracey Ullman) gets short shrift.
Coming off best is Roscuro, who sounds not at all like Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo from “Midnight Cowboy.” The animation of this bedraggled rat is especially good.
The movie’s full of pleasant things and right-on messages, yet it rarely takes off. And the decision to steer away from kid-friendly slapstick might be a noble one, but it does make this a very slow, placid experience. “Triplets of Belleville” director Sylvain Chomet was fired off this project after developing some of the character designs; one suspects his version would have had been quirkier.
As it is, I imagine a lot of squirming children getting restless during the slow patches. Too bad — the romantic, book-loving mouse deserves better.
“The Tale of Despereaux” ½
Shifting in their seats: Animated yarn about a big-eared mouse (voiced by Matthew Broderick) who refuses to accept his cowering role in the universe, and a bedraggled rat (Dustin Hoffman) who feels the same way. The movie’s full of pleasant things, but is likely too slow and slapstick-challenged to keep kids from getting restless.
Rated: G
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