I wasn't eager to see another coming-of-age movie about a high school misfit who must shed her insecurities and blossom, but Mouse -- a sensitive and often moving drama -- surprised me.
Directors Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson (Ghostlight) deliver a story that relies heavily on the work of Katherine Mallen Kupferer, who plays Minnie, a girl who has spent most of her school life riding the coattails of popular Callie (Chloe Coleman), a kid with theatrical ambitions and mega-wattage charisma.
It’s not a spoiler to tell you that Minnie’s life is upended when Callie dies in an early-picture car crash, shifting the movie into a multi-level study of grief.
Callie’s bereft mother (Sophie Okonedo), a musically talented woman, wanted to see her daughter launch a show-business career. Okonedo's Helen has made being Callie’s mother her life’s work in much the same way that Minnie drew her identity from Callie's long-standing friendship.
Helen and Minnie develop a relationship as Minnie tries to fill the role Callie played in her mother's life.
Eager to please Helen, Minnie agrees to take Callie's place in her high school's talent show, singing One, a signature tune from the musical Cats. Ill-suited for the task, Minnie sticks with it anyway.
With her own home life in shambles, Minnie’s needs aren’t always met by her harried single mom (Tara Mallen). She begins spending more and more time at Helen's house.
Both Kupferer and Okonedo deliver finely tuned performances, and the directors ably create the atmosphere of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2002, the year the movie takes place.
Minnie may not be able to sing, but Mouse hits enough right notes to keep it fresh and engaging.
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