Mousehunt (1997)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
Two brothers must battle a crafty house mouse to save a mansion they inherited from their father.
The story
After the death of string magnate Rudolph Smuntz, his sons Ernie and Lars inherit a dilapidated Victorian mansion and a cash-strapped factory. Ernie, a chef, and Lars, who refused to sell the factory to a rival company, find themselves struggling with their new inheritance. While staying at the mansion, they are plagued by a noisy mouse. Upon discovering that the property is a fabled missing design by a famous architect, they realize it could be worth a fortune. However, their efforts to evict the remarkably intelligent mouse are constantly thwarted, leading to a series of comedic mishaps as they try to protect their new home.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
String magnate Rudolph Smuntz dies, bequeathing his factory and a dilapidated Victorian mansion to his sons Ernie and Lars. Ernie, who became a chef, loses his restaurant due to a cockroach, while Lars is kicked out by his wife, April, for refusing to sell the family factory to Zeppco International. The brothers reunite and stay at the mansion, where they discover it contains a fabled missing design by architect Charles Lyle LaRue, making it potentially worth a fortune. They decide to auction the house but are plagued by a crafty mouse. After numerous failed attempts to kill the mouse—including hiring an eccentric exterminator named Caesar and adopting a cat—the brothers eventually decide to mail the mouse to Cuba. However, the box is returned due to insufficient postage. During the auction, a botched attempt to flush the mouse out leads to the mansion collapsing. April leaves with a wealthy bidder, and the brothers are left with nothing. The mouse, taking pity on them, helps them convert the factory to produce string cheese. The brothers reconcile, renovate the factory, and hire the mouse as their official taste tester and spokesperson.
- First release year
- 1997
- Runtime (minutes)
- 97
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Gore Verbinski
- Writers
- Adam Rifkin · writer
- Cast and characters
- Nathan Lane · Ernie Smuntz; Lee Evans · Lars Smuntz; Vicki Lewis · April Smuntz; Maury Chaykin · Alexander Falko; William Hickey · Rudolf Smuntz; Christopher Walken · Caesar; Eric Christmas · Ernie and Lars' lawyer; Michael Jeter · Quincy Thorpe
- Genres
- slapstick; black comedy; children's film
- Themes
- brotherhood; inheritance; man vs. nature
- Tone and mood
- slapstick; dark; energetic
- Premise and plot tags
- buddy comedy; family film; black comedy
- Content notes
- sexual references
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, with a 50% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 54/100 score on Metacritic. It was a commercial success, grossing over $122 million worldwide against a $38 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 50% · review count: 38; Metacritic · score: 54 · scale: 100 · review count: 21; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- It was the first family film to be released by DreamWorks Pictures.; The film used real live mice, along with occasional computer-generated imagery and animatronic robot mice.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…