I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked up “Flushed Away.” I expected it to be mildly entertaining, and I was pretty sure the kids would like it, but I wasn’t expecting it to be hysterical and for me to like it even more than the kids did.
We begin our story in a posh house in Kensington. Roddy (Hugh Jackman) is a pet rat, with his own gold cage. His owners are leaving town for several days, and he has the penthouse all to himself. He’s prepared to party it up the whole time they’re gone, but a burble in the sewer line pops out Sid, a disgusting sewer rat. Roddy thinks he can trick Sid into going back down the toilet, but Roddy ends up going down himself, into a world where everyone must fend for themselves and yet they rely on each other. He runs afoul of some thugs and meets Rita (Kate Winslet) a young rat with a precious ruby.
The Toad, ruler of the sewer mafia, (Ian McKellan) wants that ruby. He tells his thugs to bring Rita and Roddy to his lair, and while there, Rita steals a cable that the Toad needs badly to carry off his dastardly plan. Escaping with barely the tails on their backs, Rita and Roddy have a run-in and Roddy, trying to prove that Rita’s ruby is a fake, breaks it, and consequently her heart. She needed that ruby to take care of her large family. Promising her another ruby, real this time, from the jewelry box in his Kensington home, Roddy tells Rita that he will reward her if she’ll take him home. The Toad sends Le Frog and his cohorts after them.
The movie is full of hysterical lines, such as:
“Never send a rodent to do an amphibian’s job.” (The Toad)
“I laugh at everyone’s pain but my own. I’m French.” (Le Frog)
But my favorite part has to be the appearance of the singing slugs. They punctuate the scenes with musical renditions of popular tunes that accentuate whatever danger the rats find themselves in.
Rated PG for mild peril, you and your family will absolutely love “Flushed Away.” I rented it this time, but I will definitely be buying it for our home.
A side note: David Suchet, most popular for playing Hercule Poirot, is the voice of Rita’s dad.
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