This star-studded adaptation of Kate DiCamillo's Newberry Medal-winning book tells the tale of an unusually gifted mouse named Despereaux (voiced by Matthew Broderick) who falls in love with a human princess (Emma Watson). Despereaux's different from other mice in that he reads books and has disproportionally large ears for his body. But with help from a rat named Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), he sets out to win the girl of his dreams.



Rated G 1 hour 35 minutes 2008

3.75 stars (Dale-3.5, David-4). Cute story but not as good as I was hoping. Lots of great lessons for little kids. A tale with inconsistent, mediocre animation. It's supposed to be about a mouse, Despereaux, however, the story has an extended beginning about a rat, Roscuro, and his adventures, where he ends up in Ratland. Then, with an abrupt shift, the story switches to Despereaux, and his life in Mouseworld. Next, quite suddenly, midstream, a chambermaid, Miggy Sow, takes center stage with her story. Meanwhile The Chef, Andre, keeps popping up every now and then, I guess so we remember him. The scene transitions were all abrupt with the story lacking any kind of a smooth flow.