Review: Willard (2003)

Willard (Crispin Glover) is the very definition of social misfit, and lives with his smothering, frail mother (Jackie Burroughs). He works at the business started by his deceased father, and faces daily verbal abuse from his hateful boss (R. Lee Ermey), though co-worker Laura Elena Harring is sympathetic. Willard’s only real friends are the rats he keeps in the basement, particularly white rat Socrates, whom Willard sees an intelligence in. He trains these rats to do as he commands. Socrates’ polar opposite is the aggressive Ben, who seems to be jealous of the special relationship the gentler Socrates has with Willard. When Willard can take the abuse no longer, he has his trained rats carry out his vengeful orders.

 

Quirky (understatement of the century) character actor Crispin Glover finds the perfect vehicle for his unique…state of being, in this darkly funny 2003 remake of the 1971 cult film. Written and directed by Glen Morgan (the underrated “Final Destination”, the abysmal remake of “Black Christmas”), you’d swear it was the work of demented genius Tim Burton, as Glover’s title character is one helluva misunderstood misfit. It’s certainly more of a black comedy than a horror film (Just look at the huge amount of rat droppings in the signature death scene, it’s hilarious), but it’s also a fine character study that might just play as a better remake of “Psycho” than the pointless Gus Van Sant film was. In its own way, even the ending evokes “Psycho”. That said, the Bates-esque house that Willard lives in (the production design is first-rate) could also be the kind of abode you’d imagine the peculiar Mr. Glover to live in himself. He’s more than a bit weird (I seriously believe he wore his own funereal clothes for the part, too). But there’s no doubt that the fantastic Jackie Burroughs as Willard’s domineering mum fits the Mrs. Bates mould perfectly. She’s all kinds of decrepit, uncomfortable, and irritating.

 

Laura Elena Harring is well-cast as the one person who is nice to Willard. She has a certain softness and sweetness to her that really works. Meanwhile, there are few greater pleasures in life than hearing R. Lee Ermey yell at people. I mean, who else is better to deliver vicious bile like; ‘You’re a slimy, pukey piece of shit. You wouldn’t make a pimple on my grandmother’s tush!’. Pitch-perfect casting as the meanest and most venomously hateful person on the planet. Note to bullies: Don’t fuck with anyone who spends most of their free time in their mother’s basement. They’re likely plotting WWIII in there. With rats.

 

But this is undoubtedly Glover’s film at the end of the day, and he’s perfect as the somewhat put-upon Willard, who is never quite likeable enough to feel true empathy for, so much as pity, especially when darker impulses take hold of him. He excellently conveys the charge Willard gets from leading his rat troops into war. The rats themselves have something really intriguing going on in relationship to Willard, with the more thoughtful and pacifist Socrates pitted against his larger and more violent brother Ben (Just look at what happens when one of the rats dies). Even their colour coding is interesting. Icing on the cake is the excellent, Elfman-esque music score by Shirley Walker. The best thing of all, however, is the end credits, with a version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Ben’ (The song earlier appears very amusingly as supermarket muzak when Willard shops for rat poison) sung by none other than Crispin Hellion Glover. Yes, Hellion.

 

This very dark comedy will not be for all tastes. The very casting of Crispin Glover guarantees that. However, it’s surprisingly clever, very well-acted across the board, and extremely underrated. Obviously a must for Crispin Glover fans.

 

Rating: B-