Hey folks, Harry here... I love the original WILLARD and the sequel BEN with that great Michael Jackson tune! Now the only reason I would love to see a remake of WILLARD is when I heard that Crispin Glover would be the lead... Instantly that made me go... EW EW EW EW EW NOW PLEASE!!! Here's a review by someone not exactly in tune with that belief system... but he tries to get into the Zen of liking a Rat movie and I give him credit for that. Here ya go...

Hello then,

I've sent in a few reviews in the past, and now I have another one. A few weeks back I attended a test-screening for a movie called WILLARD. I didn't write anything at the time because I didn't like the movie very much, and for some reason I didn't want to write a bad review. I think it's because they (the test screening people) make us sign a contract promising not to write anything about the movie. I justified breaking this contract with various past reviews because I thought these movies were good, and I figured it could only help if I spread the good word on some good movies. Besides, I figured someone else will write about this movie. But, nobody has. So I took it upon myself to justify with myself a way to write this review. And here it is...

This is a good movie...about rats. I justify this review by stating just that. This is a well-made "rat" movie. That is, if Rat movies are your thing. I don't particularly enjoy movies focusing on rats. That is why I didn't like the movie. I don't feel guilty about bagging on the movie because the marketing people can't exactly hide the fact that the movie is about rats. Let me go to some specifics, now that I've given my preamble.

WILLARD is a remake of an old seventies flick about, that's right, rats. I should be more specific, though. The movie is actually about the titular character, Willard, and his relationship with said rats. Crispin Glover plays Willard, and that's a big reason why I ended up seeing this movie. For some reason, I am intrigued by damn-near whatever this maniac does. I don't necessarily watch all his movies (like Bartleby, which I hear is good), but I am interested in them. He's George McFly for crap's sake. I was raised on BACK TO THE FUTURE. He was Andy Warhol in THE DOORS, giving a great speech about the telephone used to call God. I also enjoyed his brief appearance in Jarmusch's DEAD MAN. He's just creepy enough to either be interesting or annoying. In WILLARD he was asked to carry the film, and he did an admirable job. Most of the best parts of the movie were when Willard reacted with the rats. Especially when he trained thousands of Rats to obey him. He would then use the rats to exact revenge on those worthy of revenge.

One such man worthy of revenge is Willard's boss, played by R. Lee Ermey. He plays a son of a bitch, like no one else could. I really disliked his character, that may have been the point, but he really bothered me. Ever since FULL METAL JACKET I can't believe Ermey in any other role. He did a fair job with the Bill Bowerman role in PREFONTAINE (not as good as Sutherlands portrayal in WITHOUT LIMITS), but I still imagine him as the "drill sarge." The rest of the cast was adequite. The lesbian from MULHOLLAND DRIVE was also in it. Not THE RING lesbian, the other one. She did a fair job with a role that was quite unbelievable (Crispin Glover's 'love' interest). The real stars of the flick were the rats.

I may not particularly dig a whole movie about rats, but I still enjoyed some scenes with em. Particularly the struggle for Willard's attention by a huge-mamajama of a rat named "big" Ben.

Technically, the movie was well-made. Especially the ending, which was handled nicely. I just didn't dig the premise, as a viewer, I didn't have anything to root for. If a "rat" movie is your thing, by all means, check this shit out, it'll be a little piece of Nirvana. For all others, you might want to check it out for an interesting Crispin Glover performance. But bear in mind, it is a "rat" movie. Then again it may be the sleeper hit of the century, catapulting Crispin Glover into mainstream roles, co-starring with Vin Diesel in countless blockbusters. Or it could be a cult hit, you never know coming from a lowly....

Goondock Saint