The Borrowers

Released 1998
Stars John Goodman, Jim Broadbent, Mark Williams, Hugh Laurie, Bradley Pierce, Celia Imire, Flora Newbigin, Tom Felton, Raymond Pickard
Directed by Peter Hewitt

A missing cufflink. A misplaced watch. A lost set of keys. In general, we attribute these absences to a faulty memory, but could there be another explanation? What if there are little people, half Lilliputian and half leprechaun, who delight in filching such items out from under our noses? They live under the floorboards of our houses, and only emerge when the coast is clear to do their "borrowing," then are gone before any human can see them. That's the premise of The Borrowers, a new family film from director Peter Hewitt based on the series of children's books by Mary Norton.

The story goes something like this: Pete's family is being forced to move out of their house because the unscrupulous Potter has stolen the will that leaves the property to them. The house is to be torn down to make way for apartment buildings (the first dwellings in a proposed development called "Pottersville" -- I wonder if someone saw It's a Wonderful Life?), so Pete, who recently discovered that a family of borrowers live under the floorboards, informs his new friends that they have to depart. However, in transit to the new house, the borrower children become separated from their parents. Arrietty and Peagreen return to the old dwelling in time to learn that Potter has cheated Pete's family out of their rightful property. So the two young borrowers set out to rectify matters.

Summary by James Berardinelli

This is a cross between "Home Alone," "The Road Runner," and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." I had a few big laughs here and there, but I might be getting burned out on the family film genre. It's rather inconsequential, but it looked fantastic. Also, the kids loved it. --Bill Alward, July 7, 2002