Director
Glen Morgan
Cast
Crispin Glover - Willard Stiles
R. Lee Ermey - Frank Martin
Jackie Burroughs - Henrietta Stiles
Laura Elena Harring - Cathryn
Say what you want about actor Crispin Glover. Sure, he comes across as awkward, eccentric, and sometimes a little too intense during interviews. But when he lands a role in a movie, especially a role like Willard Stiles in the 2003 movie Willard, he more often than not nails it perfectly. Glover is a great actor. Of course, he's memorable as George McFly in Back to the Future. He's great as a supporting actor in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. And his character in Willard should be just as remembered.
As the 1971 movie Willard is based on a novella called Ratman's Notebooks, which is also the basis for the 1972 sequel, Ben, the 2003 movie is really another adaptation of the same book rather than a remake of the original movie.
I saw Willard in the theater by accident. A friend and I, if I remember correctly, went to see something else that ended up being sold out. So, I picked this movie on the spot as an alternative. I didn't know anything about it. The poster is what attracted my attention.
I saw Willard in the theater by accident. A friend and I, if I remember correctly, went to see something else that ended up being sold out. So, I picked this movie on the spot as an alternative. I didn't know anything about it. The poster is what attracted my attention.
My friend didn't want to go see this. But nothing else was playing. So, I talked him into it.
It was hilarious watching him whine and moan as he sat through a movie he didn't want to see.
Anyhow, Willard Stiles lives in a huge house with his elderly sick mother. She is still overly protective with him incessantly, and he is left to do whatever she asks.
At work, Willard is verbally thrashed by his boss, Frank Martin (R. Lee Ermey) who owns and operates the company founded by Willard's father.
And Stile's new coworker, Cathryn (Laura Elena Harring) quickly takes pity on him after seeing how mistreated he is at work all while dealing with his sick mother.
During a tirade, Martin tells Willard the reason he hasn't been fired yet is because he made a promise to his parents that he'd keep him on as long as one of them was still alive.
Willard's dad had committed suicide prior to the story, and his portrait hangs in the family home. Incidentally, the image of his father in the painting is that of actor Bruce Davison who portrayed Willard in the 1971 movie. So, maybe this movie is a sequel?
Willard's mother yells at him, complaining about rats in the basement, which indeed there are. She says she can smell them.
Willard tries setting basic rat traps, which the rats apparently outsmart.
He then tries glue traps, and manages to catch a white one that attempts to crawl away.
Rather than kill it, he takes it off the trap and keeps it.
As Willard has no friends, he finds comfort in this one rat. So, he befriends it and names it Socrates.
His comfort and friendship leads to an obsession.
Willard also learns to control the other rats in his basement, teaching them to do his commands. During this time, he finds a huge rat - bigger than the rest - who stays off to the side and observes Willard and his behavior with the other rats.
Willard calls this behemoth of a critter Ben...as in "Big Ben." As he trains all these rats, Ben takes on a leadership over the rats as well.
Willard's obsession festers and grows, creating jealousy over Ben. It's up to the audience's keen sense of interpretation to determine that Ben is looking for Willard's acceptance as well as a place of importance in his rodent army.
Nevertheless, as Willard trained the rats to "tear" and destroy, he takes them over to Martin's house late one night while purposely excluding Ben. But he sneaks into Willard's bag anyhow with the other rats.
Willard commands them to tear through the garage door and chew through the tires of Martin's brand new Mercedes-Benz. And they do. Cold refreshing revenge!
Later, Willard's mother hears the rats in the basement and panics. When Willard finds her, she laying on the basement stairs dead and surrounded by the rats.
At her funeral, an attorney for his parents' estate informs him that payments have fallen far behind and the bank intends to foreclose on the property.
He also looses his job now that his mother has passed on because Martin feels he doesn't need to keep the promise he made to them - that as long either of them were alive, he'd let their son stay on in the company.
The day he's fired is a day he brings Socrates to work with him. And this time he brought Ben as well.
Martin's secretary spots Socrates in the storage room as she's looking for Christmas decorations, and screams.
Martin and the other workers rush in, and Martin happens to find Socrates on a shelf behind some Christmas lights.
He bludgeons the rat with a broom stick. This pushes Willard well over the edge.
Socrates was all Willard claimed to have. So, he uses the trust and obedience of the other rats to seek the ultimate revenge on Martin.
Meanwhile, as Ben seems to desire Willard's affection, Willard is rather suspect of the huge rat and his anger towards this rodent grows.
Willard is loosing everything, and he's pushed more and more into mental instability.
So, he takes as many rats as he can with him to his former work late one night as Martin is burning the midnight oil in his office.
The rats creep in slowly until his office is infested. As the elevator opens with hundreds of rats pouring out, Willard stands in the middle with a sinister grin on his face. He makes his way to Martin's office and bursts in.
"They'll do anything I tell them," he declares.
Martin runs towards the elevator chased by hundreds of eager rats.
After that, as the world figuratively closes in on Willard, his fight turns towards who will control the rats? Ben, or he?
Glover is perfect in this role. Not only is the character Willard socially awkward, a misfit, and a loner, Glover adds a layer of "eow" and cringe which gradually intensifies as the movie progresses.
Willard's seclusion into himself becomes deeper and deeper, little by little. Glover depicts this trait and downward spiral so well.
It doesn't come across as overblown or laughable. His decline into madness is almost dripping off of him like that string of mucus which appears and hangs off his nostril while he leans over his mother's casket.
It was hilarious watching him whine and moan as he sat through a movie he didn't want to see.
Anyhow, Willard Stiles lives in a huge house with his elderly sick mother. She is still overly protective with him incessantly, and he is left to do whatever she asks.
At work, Willard is verbally thrashed by his boss, Frank Martin (R. Lee Ermey) who owns and operates the company founded by Willard's father.
And Stile's new coworker, Cathryn (Laura Elena Harring) quickly takes pity on him after seeing how mistreated he is at work all while dealing with his sick mother.
During a tirade, Martin tells Willard the reason he hasn't been fired yet is because he made a promise to his parents that he'd keep him on as long as one of them was still alive.
Willard's dad had committed suicide prior to the story, and his portrait hangs in the family home. Incidentally, the image of his father in the painting is that of actor Bruce Davison who portrayed Willard in the 1971 movie. So, maybe this movie is a sequel?
Willard's mother yells at him, complaining about rats in the basement, which indeed there are. She says she can smell them.
Willard tries setting basic rat traps, which the rats apparently outsmart.
He then tries glue traps, and manages to catch a white one that attempts to crawl away.
Rather than kill it, he takes it off the trap and keeps it.
His comfort and friendship leads to an obsession.
Willard also learns to control the other rats in his basement, teaching them to do his commands. During this time, he finds a huge rat - bigger than the rest - who stays off to the side and observes Willard and his behavior with the other rats.
Willard calls this behemoth of a critter Ben...as in "Big Ben." As he trains all these rats, Ben takes on a leadership over the rats as well.
Willard's obsession festers and grows, creating jealousy over Ben. It's up to the audience's keen sense of interpretation to determine that Ben is looking for Willard's acceptance as well as a place of importance in his rodent army.
Nevertheless, as Willard trained the rats to "tear" and destroy, he takes them over to Martin's house late one night while purposely excluding Ben. But he sneaks into Willard's bag anyhow with the other rats.
Willard commands them to tear through the garage door and chew through the tires of Martin's brand new Mercedes-Benz. And they do. Cold refreshing revenge!
Later, Willard's mother hears the rats in the basement and panics. When Willard finds her, she laying on the basement stairs dead and surrounded by the rats.
At her funeral, an attorney for his parents' estate informs him that payments have fallen far behind and the bank intends to foreclose on the property.
He also looses his job now that his mother has passed on because Martin feels he doesn't need to keep the promise he made to them - that as long either of them were alive, he'd let their son stay on in the company.
The day he's fired is a day he brings Socrates to work with him. And this time he brought Ben as well.
Martin's secretary spots Socrates in the storage room as she's looking for Christmas decorations, and screams.
Martin and the other workers rush in, and Martin happens to find Socrates on a shelf behind some Christmas lights.
He bludgeons the rat with a broom stick. This pushes Willard well over the edge.
Socrates was all Willard claimed to have. So, he uses the trust and obedience of the other rats to seek the ultimate revenge on Martin.
Meanwhile, as Ben seems to desire Willard's affection, Willard is rather suspect of the huge rat and his anger towards this rodent grows.
Willard is loosing everything, and he's pushed more and more into mental instability.
So, he takes as many rats as he can with him to his former work late one night as Martin is burning the midnight oil in his office.
The rats creep in slowly until his office is infested. As the elevator opens with hundreds of rats pouring out, Willard stands in the middle with a sinister grin on his face. He makes his way to Martin's office and bursts in.
"They'll do anything I tell them," he declares.
Martin runs towards the elevator chased by hundreds of eager rats.
After that, as the world figuratively closes in on Willard, his fight turns towards who will control the rats? Ben, or he?
Glover is perfect in this role. Not only is the character Willard socially awkward, a misfit, and a loner, Glover adds a layer of "eow" and cringe which gradually intensifies as the movie progresses.
Willard's seclusion into himself becomes deeper and deeper, little by little. Glover depicts this trait and downward spiral so well.
It doesn't come across as overblown or laughable. His decline into madness is almost dripping off of him like that string of mucus which appears and hangs off his nostril while he leans over his mother's casket.
The movie is entertaining, but there's a faint sense of stagnation. The movie doesn't peak much in excitement, save for the rat infestation in Martin's office, and the outcome of it.
I remember this movie being a lot more "edge of your seat" when I first saw in theaters back in 2003. Seventeen years later, it didn't have the intrigue I remembered. I couldn't remember how it ended, so at least there was that surprise to look forward to.
The CGI rats used in some scenes stand out like a sore thumb. Perhaps that's just a byproduct of the day.
Otherwise, the real rats used in the rest of the movie seemed land on their marks impressively.
It's Glover's performance that makes the movie, as well as the number of rats that make this the cringe film it intends to be.
It's Glover's showcase of emotional instability thanks to the verbal abuse and pressure of the unwanted outside world that would make a person like Willard look for acceptance among a rat infestation. And through the actions of Glover's character, we have a good idea of the jealousy, loneliness, and power going through Willard's mind.
I thought at first the story lacked. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Willard used the rats for just what he needed. I thought there was so much more he could have had the rats do for his own personal gain. As I thought about it, I realized there really isn't much else for the main character to gain. As he indulged himself in selfish actions, such as using the rats to inflict revenge, the more he lost.
I'm glad I gave Willard another viewing.
 |
| R. Lee Ermey in Willard. |
The CGI rats used in some scenes stand out like a sore thumb. Perhaps that's just a byproduct of the day.
Otherwise, the real rats used in the rest of the movie seemed land on their marks impressively.
It's Glover's performance that makes the movie, as well as the number of rats that make this the cringe film it intends to be.
It's Glover's showcase of emotional instability thanks to the verbal abuse and pressure of the unwanted outside world that would make a person like Willard look for acceptance among a rat infestation. And through the actions of Glover's character, we have a good idea of the jealousy, loneliness, and power going through Willard's mind.
I thought at first the story lacked. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Willard used the rats for just what he needed. I thought there was so much more he could have had the rats do for his own personal gain. As I thought about it, I realized there really isn't much else for the main character to gain. As he indulged himself in selfish actions, such as using the rats to inflict revenge, the more he lost.
I'm glad I gave Willard another viewing.
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