Willard (2003)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Glen Morgan

Writers (WGA):

Glen Morgan (screenplay)
Gilbert Ralston (1971 screenplay)

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A new breed of friendship

Plot:

A young man with an unusual connection with rats, uses them at his own sociopathic will.

Plot Keywords:

Rat | Revenge | Office | Vermin | Murder

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Crispin Glover	...	Willard
R. Lee Ermey	...	Mr. Martin
Laura Harring	...	Cathryn (as Laura Elena Harring)
Jackie Burroughs	...	Mrs. Stiles
Ashlyn Gere	...	Ms. Leach (as Kimberly Patton)
William S. Taylor	...	Mr. Garter
Edward Horn	...	Colquitt
Gus Lynch	...	George Foxx
Laara Sadiq	...	Janice Mantis
David Parker	...	Detective Boxer
Ty Olsson	...	Officer Salmon

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for terror/violence, some sexual content and language.

Runtime:

USA:100 min | UK:96 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

New Zealand:M | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | USA:PG-13 (NO. 39665) | Australia:M | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Lion's Gate Studios, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

All of the photos in the house of Willard's father, Martin Stiles, are of actor Bruce Davison, who played the part of Willard in the original movie (Willard (1971)).

Goofs:

Continuity: The gender of the two main rats, Socrates and Ben change through out the film. In some scenes the rats are male and in others they are female.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Willard's Mother: Willard! There are rats in the basement!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in May All Your Christmases Be Black (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Ben

Makes a good impact if not quite ENOUGH of an impact.

In this remake of a memorable horror thriller from the 1970's, terminally offbeat actor Crispin Glover is well cast as Willard Stiles, a thirty-something office drone whose life is dominated by his very sick mother Henrietta. Willard is a sad, lonely, pathetic loser who comes to bond very strongly with the rats that he finds in his mother's basement - especially a small white rat whom he names "Socrates". He ends up using these rats to get revenge against Frank Martin (R. Lee Ermey), the heartless and nasty boss who seems to delight in humiliating Willard in front of the other employees.

I agree with something another reviewer said: this is almost, I think, for people who like (or at least don't mind) rats, not people who loathe and fear them. It's almost a celebration of the rodent world, and a harrowing and sorrowful depiction of Willard's descent into utter madness. The pacing is a little too slow throughout the film, but suffice it to say that the film-makers don't go for easy, cheap thrills. (As a matter of fact, they toned down the profanity and violence in order to get a PG-13 rating.) That's why I would characterize this as more of a horror drama, not a horror thriller. I'll be darned if I wasn't identifying with Willard just the slightest bit, and feeling his anguish at every rotten thing that happens to him.

Glover may be more of a supporting actor than a lead, but he does an acceptable job of carrying this picture - in fact, even though he wasn't the first choice for the role, it's hard to think of an actor who would be more appropriate to play Willard. Military man turned character actor R. Lee Ermey clearly relishes his bad guy role, and you may have a good time thoroughly hating Frank Martin. Laura Elena Harring, as the co-worker who comes to feel compassion and sympathy for Willard, is a little wasted - she doesn't have a whole lot to do.

The rats playing Ben and Socrates are fine as far as rodent actors go, and it thankfully isn't TOO easy to distinguish the computer-generated rats from the real ones.

In a nod to the original 1971 movie, that film's star Bruce Davison can be seen in a number of important photographs in this film (as Willard's deceased dad).

Not a great film - it kind of lacks real style - but a reasonably good one. Maybe just a little bit memorable.

The Jackson Five song "Ben" (composed for the original film's sequel) is heard, as is another composition named "Ben" sung by Glover himself.

7/10