Mouse - Movie Review

The Movie: Mouse

The Director: Kenny Riches

The Cast: Kenny Riches, Sarah Coffey, Kimball Farley

The Story: In Salt Lake City, Denny, a 40-year-old Asian-American criminal, lives with his mother. While looking for company by mail, he meets Tess, a con artist who, along with her boyfriend Maury, plan to rob him. But nothing is what it seems.

The Rating: 6 / 10

The Review:

You ever watch a movie and it just sort of meanders along with nothing happening that really grabs your attention and then it's suddenly over and you're left sitting there wondering what the heck was that all about? That's what this movie felt like. There's nothing bad about the movie, it's just sort of there and it feels really safe. In my head, there was another version of this movie which came from my own expectation based on the trailer and the description and I still kind of want to see that version.

The main issue I have with the story is that most of it is build-up to a climax that fizzles out and wraps up before it ever really gets going. What I thought was going to be the setup for the story turned out to actually be the story which is a shame because there are some really good performances from the cast that end up not really meaning as much as I thoight they could have. I do really like the relationship and interactions between the main character Denny and his mom and I would have liked to see more of that mixed into the story.

I'm always curious to see how a movie is going to turn out when the director is also the star of the movie and, in this case, the producer as well. I'm not saying that's an inherently bad thing, it just seems like taking on multiple roles would have an impact on how much time and effort can be given to each. That being said, Riches gives a solid performance in the leas role as Denny, a character that is very understated and sort of methodical to how he approaches life. It's a nice counterbalance to the chaotic nature of what Sarah Coffey and Kimball Farley bring to the con artist couple that they play.

With the right expectation, this can definitely be an enjoyable movie. For my part, I was expecting a little more of a thriller and even leaning more into horror, but the movie is more of a slow burn drama with siome thriller elements and, in that context, it's a pretty solid film. Thank you for reading this review and please continue to support independent filmmaking by seeing these types of movies in the theater.