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Rat

2001, Movie, PG, 98 mins

Rat: Review

This adult allegory strikes nary a false note as chronicles the topsy-turvy transformation of a carousing, working class Irishman into the animal he most resembles: A Rat. Dubliner Hubert (Peter Postlethwaite) enjoys drinking himself into a stupor despite the nagging of his careworn wife, Conchita (Imelda Staunton). One day, he wakes up a cuddly white rat. The shocking news quickly reaches the tabloids and journalist Phelim Spratt (David Wilmot), oozing sincerity, butters up Conchita in hopes of getting the inside track on a book about Hubert's transformation. Conchita smells a bestseller and sees no reason why she shouldn't profit from the misfortune of her lay-about husband. Although Hubert's daughter, Marietta (Kerry Condon), objects to making a public spectacle of her father by transporting him in a baby carriage, and his religious son, Pius (Andrew Lovern), wants to terminate his ungodly parent. But Conchita refuses to hide their rodent relative, and Phelim isn't about to have his meal ticket abruptly canceled. The embarrassed family tries to relocate Hubert in a garbage dump, where he can cohabit with his own kind, but Hubert finds his way back home — he even lets a black rat buddy tag along with him, much to Conchita's consternation. Finally driven to distraction, Conchita opts for an exorcism that restores Hubert's humanity. But a human Hubert doesn't fit in with Phelim's master plan; if Conchita can't coerce Hubert to hide until the book is published, Phelim may have to have Hubert committed to a madhouse. And even if Hubert cooperates with his wife, curious neighbors may upset the bandwagon that Conchita intends to ride to riches. A fractured fairy tale that cautions about self-destructive impulses, this film very nearly sustains its air of whimsy throughout. Sometimes funny and sometimes rueful, it suggests an old wives' tale repeated by the fire. leave a comment --Robert Pardi