Wordiezett So much average

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

dougdoepke The movie may have done the impossible---actually making rats, of all things, seem sympathetic. At least it did for me. Add a plot that features a double twist on a premise of righteous revenge and you've got a cult film. Poor Willard (Davison), his skinny frame perfectly reflects the lack of respect he gets from family, employer, and himself. Worse, as the only son of a wealthy manufacturer he should be getting maximo respect. But mom's kept him on a suffocating leash, isolating him from younger folks his own age. (That birthday party amounts to a poignant hoot and an illustration of Willard's plight.) At the same time, office shark Martin (Borgnine) has taken over the business relegating Willard to a menial slot. No wonder Willard looks for a substitute family and circle of friends. And the movie being a feat of offbeat imagination, he finds them in the world of rodents, namely Ben and Socrates as leaders of the pack. Now poor Willard's finally happy if only he can keep his big house where he and the pack live in symbiotic harmony.Davison delivers a cracker-jack performance as the needy Willard, while Borgnine seems made for the bullying boss role. Too bad we don't see more of Sondra Locke who appears Davison's skinny blonde double-a perfect matchup. Plus, I nominate Ben and Socrates for four-footed Oscars though they have no lines, not even a woof, woof. But oh my goodness, I almost didn't recognize Elsa Lanchester without that leaning tower of wavy hair and gray racing streak-- but where's hubby Frankenstein. What a great eccentric actress she was.All in all, the flick's surprisingly well done for a horror thriller. No corner cutting that I could spot. And if you think about how the rodents, on one hand, behave, and how people behave, on the other, there may well be an unsettling message lurking inside.

Michael_Elliott Willard (1971) *** (out of 4) Effective film about Willard Stiles (Bruce Davison), a rather awkward man who is pretty much pushed around by everyone who knows him. His entire life is devoted to his mother (Elsa Lanchester) but after she dies he sinks further into a strange mental state where he only friends are rats. Soon his boss (Ernest Borgnine) tries coming after the home he's lived in all his life and Willard decides enough is enough.WILLARD is a film that I watched when I was around ten or so and I really didn't care too much for it. Revisiting it over twenty-five years later it's easy to see why I didn't like it. As a kid I loved gory and over-the-top horror movies and that's certainly not what WILLARD is. No, this here is really a bizarre character study but one that manages to be highly entertaining because of four great performances in the film as well as a good story and a great character.There's a lot to really enjoy here but what impressed me most is the fact that for a "horror" film there really aren't any horrific moments until the finale. You certainly couldn't make a horror picture like this today but at the time WILLARD was released it became a huge hit. I really loved the low-key style of the picture and the fact that it spends the majority of its running time building up the lead character. Even though the viewer can tell that there's something wrong with Willard, we still feel sorry for him and want to see him win over his enemies.The screenplay gives us time to get to know and like the character but we're also treated to some great performances led by Davison. He really is wonderful here as he has a lot of details to the character and he pulls them off. Whether it's the nerd side of the character or the more broken down mental side, he nails everything perfectly. Sondra Locke is also extremely good in her supporting role as the love interest. Lanchester is always wonderful no matter what she does and that's true here as well. Then there's Borgnine who is terrific as the villain. He was a terrific character actor and he brings so much evilness to this character without making him campy or over-the-top. He's just the typical jerk that most of us know.WILLARD was eventually remade but it came nowhere near the level of quality as this original. The film manages to have an effective atmosphere throughout and there's just so much right with the picture that you can overlook what flaws are here.

AaronCapenBanner Daniel Mann directed this surprise box office hit that stars Bruce Davison as Willard Stiles, a much put-upon young man who lives at home with his infirm mother(played by horror icon Elsa Lanchester), while at work in a company his late father started, he is being forced out by his loathsome boss(played by Ernest Borgnine) There is a pretty lady at work(played by Sondra Locke) who is nice, but Willard doesn't know what to say to her. His only real friend is his pet rat Ben, along with Socrates, and a growing army of rats caused by both his feeding them, and Ben's intelligence. When his mean boss kills Socrates, this sends him over the edge on a murderous campaign of vengeance that will be his undoing... Good acting and premise almost undermined by slightly indifferent direction, though this is otherwise a memorable, entertaining thriller that led to sequel "Ben".

wayno-6 MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSAh rats! No wait. That is the whole plot in 2 words.From "Marty" to Martin. My how Ernest Borgnine, fell from grace.How many of you knew, that Willard is the first name of Republican Presidential nominee, Willard Mitt Romney? Okay whoever named this kid is thankfully out of the gene pool. Who the hell names their kid after a baseball glove? What's next? A boy named shuffleboard?Okay anyway - the famous tag-line: "Where dreams end...Willard begins." That may apply to our poor baseball glove. No I could not begin to tell you how devastatingly challenged the contact lens acting, plot, dialogue, and scenery are. Nor could I tell you how dreadful the music is. While this is NOT as bad as Manos: The Hands of Fate, I am not too sure I'd ever watch this quality challenged cinematic blunder again. It is NOT even good fodder for Mystery Science Theatre.I think Alan Alda's quote: "There certainly is NO lack of slowness" sums it perfectly.