This one crawled out of the toilet

November 1, 2006

“Flushed Away”

Paramount Pictures

Directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell

Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais

Starring the voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Bill Nighy and Jean Reno

Rated PG/88 minutes

Opens Nov. 3, 2006

Two out of fours stars

The title “Flushed Away” explains where the story goes in more ways than one. It could refer to the journey of a pampered pet rat from Kensington named Roddy who takes an unfortunate plunge down the porcelain throne and finds himself neck deep in filthy, sewer-based adventure. Or it could refer to the way the story swirls, sloshes and dissipates down a sucking black hole, like tepid toilet water, only to rise slowly back up to the surface at the end.

Animated movies these days are content with snagging a few headlining stars and stringing together laughs on a flimsy clothesline of a plot. That can spell disaster (the stale “Open Season” should be stuffed and mounted on the wall of shame), but if the jokes are good and the animation is fun, the movie can squeak by.

Being a movie about rats, “Flushed Away” is in a position to “squeak by” more easily than most. And coming from Aardman Animation, the studio that brought us Wallace and Gromit, it has a finely understated and daffy British sense of humor that brings a lot of unexpected enjoyment to a weak story.

Hugh Jackman lends a voice of posh, barely-there masculinity to the tuxedoed Roddy. His riverboat guide and love interest is the tomboyish Rita (Kate Winslet), the Lara Croft of rats who wears British flag-patterned jeans as if the Spice Girls were still in style (down in the sewers, perhaps they are). They must put a stop to the diabolical schemes of The Toad (Ian McKellen), who plans to open the floodgates and flush away Ratropolis, Home of the Big Sewer, and the hantavirus, no doubt.

The Toad is an entertaining villain, obsessed with collecting the kind of Royal Family kitsch that tourists like to snatch up and cheapen their mantels with (Prince Charles bobble-head dolls, anyone?). His henchmen include the gentle giant, Whitey (Bill Nighy), and the sniveling live wire, Spike (Andy Serkis), who provide a nice contrast to each other and make the most out of a running joke involving long falls and pointing toes. Also on The Toad’s payroll is Le Frog (Jean Reno-is this guy Frencher-than-French, or what?), a criminal-for-hire who cries to his men, “Battle positions!,” to which they respond by throwing up their hands and shouting, “We surrender!”

Many chases and pratfalls ensue in a scattershot manner, tracing Roddy’s transformation from a whiny dirt-a-phobe to a brave rat-of-action. Rita is apparently captured at one point-“apparently” because one moment she’s walking out of Roddy’s life and the next she’s struggling in Whitey’s grip as he brings her before The Toad. Gaps like that deflate the story’s confidence a bit.

Luckily, the script by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais is wry throughout, full of that British way of making the pompous silly and the silly absurd. I especially liked the slithering slugs that provided a Greek chorus of sorts.

The computer animation is a departure for the Plasticine-based Aardman studio, but it’s remarkable and comforting how the more technically advanced method still retains the slightly choppy, stop-motion effect. Not to mention the trademark toothy smiles.

So “Flushed Away” isn’t a total sell-out (Nick Park, creator of Wallace and Gromit and king of Aardman studios, has reportedly been quick to distance himself from the film). It’s very funny in spots and cute throughout, which is quite a feat considering the story is, after all, about rats in the sewer.