I've always found popular Irish comedies like `Waking Ned Devine' to be either overkill on the charm, or like `The Van', to be overkill on the sardonic wit. This film truly nails the balance of charm and sardonic wit, and it also has an energy that I haven't seen since `A Hard Day's Night'. Bob Geldof formerly of The Boomtown Rats (!) was the musical consultant, and the score is mixed with bouncy pop songs in the background that seem to recall the joy of that era. The film opens with a fable-like narration letting us know that we're into the kind of Irish story-telling that is of its past (i.e. deliciously wicked!). Personally, I'm grateful to see this kind of story-telling still alive and not reflective of the new generic Ireland that's looking more and more like the USA. There already is a `Babe' and a `Stuart Little', so why make those films over again? This film stands on its own, and it can certainly entertain adults every bit as much as kids. I found it to be one of the funniest films I've seen in years! The key to much of the humour is in its subtlety. One definitely has to have a love of the absurd in its most subtle form (like one of my favourite scenes, when the desperately ill rat is thrown in the washing machine so it will look nice and clean when the priest comes to exorcise it). The cast is magnificent, especially Imelda Staunton whose personality is more rat-like than her husband, but can switch emotional gears faster than her husband can scamper across the floor. And of course, Pete Postlethwaite does actually look like he's `half-way there already' in terms of his physical appearance. I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. A sweeter rat you've never seen!
