The Borrowers (1997 film)

The Borrowers is a 1997 fantasy comedy film directed by Peter Hewitt. The film stars John Goodman, Jim Broadbent, Celia Imrie, Mark Williams, Hugh Laurie and Bradley Pierce. The film is loosely based on the 1952 children's novel of the same name by author Mary Norton. In 1998, it was nominated for Best British Film in the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards, but lost to Gary Oldman's film Nil by Mouth.

Compared to other adaptations, this one takes a far more urban setup, overturns the idea that the Borrowers have a low population (the ending is rather like that of Toy Story), and in general is not as faithful to the books as the original movies were. It at least avoided being In Name Only by keeping the members of the Clock family more-or-less true to their book characterizations, although even there they recast Peagreen (a minor character in the books) as Arrietty's Annoying Younger Sibling. It also dropped the original plot in favor of one centering around the scheme of Goodman's Amoral Attorney villain to demolish the house where the Borrowers live. It also features a young Tom Felton.

"Arrietty: Peagreen, try to understand, there won't be a "here" unless we get this will to Pete before that nasty, cheating, thieving, evil, greedy, vicious, ugly bean destroys our house. Potter: Ugly? Who they calling ugly?"
 * Amoral Attorney: The villain of the movie, John Goodman's character Mr. Potter.
 * Annoying Younger Sibling: Arrietty is given one, Peagreen, played by Tom Felton.
 * Color Wash: Everything is orange, for no readily apparent reason.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Peagreen, as part of his Bratty Half-Pint shtick, gets in a few really biting comments.
 * Humiliation Conga: Mr. Potter for the entirety of the movie.
 * I Take Offense to That Last One:


 * Large Ham: John Goodman. Why are we not surprised?
 * MacGuffin: A Will which entitles the Lenders to the house and thus stands in the way of Potter's scheme to replace it with condos.
 * Meaningful Name: The last name of the human family who owns the house where the Clock family lives? The Lenders.
 * The Millstone: Peagreen's two main functions in the movie is to be sarcastic and to get into trouble so the others will need to rescue him.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Ruby Wax as the City Hall receptionist.
 * Punch Clock Villain: Exterminator Jeff is a rather nice, friendly man who's fascinated by the Borrowers and is only helping Potter because he's been hired as a pest exterminator.
 * Retro Universe: Seems to be set in one, complete with Zeppelins from Another World visible in the sky.
 * Shout-Out: The exterminator's appearance is not only a tribute to Ghostbusters, but also to Arachnophobia, which featured John Goodman as an exterminator.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Mr. Potter's starts early, but it never ends. By the end of the film, he seems to care about nothing except killing those Borrowers at any cost.
 * Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The film's setting contains elements of the US and the UK with the use of both American and British actors adding to the ambiguity of it all.
 * You Can't Miss It: John Goodman's character rudely asked a receptionist for directions to a room in the building and she replied by giving him a lot of complicated instructions, ending with "walk quickly". Later on, the Kid Hero politely asked for the same thing and this time she said "take the elevator to the top and walk straight ahead - "You can't miss it".