Stuart Little

An adaptation of EB White's classic 1950s story of an orphanage mouse with red sneakers and his adopted (human) family. Mr and Mrs Little (Laurie and Davis) and nine-year-old George (Lipnicki) live in a brownstone sandwiched between skyscrapers on Fifth Avenue, NY, and are given to such pleasantries as 'This meatloaf is delicious, dear.' As voiced by Fox, Stuart is a bookish, self-deprecating sort, who appeals through the thousand gradations of hurt he registers, rather than the expected play made of his stature. Essentially, the plot goes, 'paradise lost then paradise regained,' with miffed cat Snowbell co-opting some alley mogs to abduct the little fella. In other words, peril stands in for character development. Director Rob (The Lion King) Minkoff's animation experience ensures that the digital/live action matches are faultless, showing off his skill in a bravura episode on the Central Park pond with Stuart taking the helm of a kids' sailing boat. Otherwise, the film is strangely uninvolving.