A secret family of four-inch people living inside the walls of a house must save their home from an evil real estate developer. (from IMDb)

It's been over 28 years since the little family film (no pun intended) The Borrowers hit theaters. Honestly, it wasn't one that had interested my then-17-year-old movie-going self, and it hasn't been one I was all that interested in checking out in the years since. But when it finally slid across my desk in its new retro packaging Blu-Ray release, I figured now may be as good a time as any to finally check it out.

The concept of The Borrowers is an imaginative one. It's the idea that things go missing around our homes because there's a little, unseen community of tiny people that use these items for their everyday existence. Maybe the wrapper for a bag of M&M's becomes a tunic. Maybe batteries help power their living space. Maybe some missing fabric becomes their clothes, or a half-melted birthday candle can be their torch. Heck, that one missing rollerskate just might be a means for them to get around between the walls. The Borrowers is a little bit Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and a little bit Gulliver's Travels, with a dash of Mouse Hunt. But the end result is probably not quite as good as any of those titles.

Part of the problem is tone. Honestly, the film works best for kids. If this had come out when I was maybe 9 or 10, I could see myself being far more interested in it. As an adult, though, I could really only enjoy the sets, props and wardrobes that helped make the world of the little people seem tangible. Really, the sets and props are the best thing The Borrowers has going for it. I loved seeing things like Monopoly game cards being used as decorations in their home, or an old credit card serving as a door. Details like those are a lot of fun to point out. I found myself more interested in the world around these characters than the characters themselves.

I think the goofier tone of the movie is kind of what ruined it for me. As it is, I find Jim Broadbent a little hit-or-miss in films, so to see him decked out in silly attire and big prosthetic teeth, christened with a name like "Pod Clock," I couldn't help but feel like this stuff is just all too silly. I mean, Pod's daughter, who is a main character, is named Arrietty, but her little brother - who I didn't recognize as a really young Tom Felton - is named "Peagreen." I think a lot of these sillier details are supposed to be cutesy or make characters seem more endearing, but I don't think it worked all that well. John Goodman serves as the film's villain, Ocious P. Potter, but the action and his menacing demeanor is more campy than anything. And when he starts trashing their house in an effort to snag Arrietty and Peagreen, it just feels like a way less entertaining version of Mouse Hunt, which released the previous year.

Again, the movie works fine as a family adventure film. It definitely has an 80's/90's feel to it, but less memorable than, say, a classic like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Still, there should be plenty about this one that younger audiences will like. It just feels less like the "fun for all ages" that most of today's family movies aim to be. It's entertaining enough not to completely bore parents, but I think it's far more aimed at the kids. There are plenty of moments to inspire some eyerolls, even if its cute factor may be enough for some.

The content is pretty kid friendly. There's one "d*mned" and one "Good G-d," and that's about it when it comes to language. There is also no sexual content. The only other content to be aware of going into it would be the violence and peril, even if most of it is relatively slapstick or silly. There's a scene where the exterminator Potter hires accidentally coats Potter's face with foam, and when it hardens and he rips it off, it tears off his mustache and leaves him with a red, burned face. It's not graphic at all, but that's about the extent of anything visually violent. The last half of the film is pretty much Potter trying to capture or kill the borrower family, so he gets pretty aggressive with trying to find ways to bring about their demise. He even drops one of them into a machine, presumably killing them (they end up being fine), while strapping a group of them down in hopes of smothering them with hot liquid cheese. He doesn't succeed, but repeated failures to harm them doesn't stop him from trying.

The Blu-Ray transfer isn't bad, but it isn't extraordinary either. If you're a fan of The Borrowers, this is still a great little release to recapture some of the nostalgia of it. I believe the Blu-Ray disc itself is a re-release of an existing one, as the retro cardboard slip case seems to be the only thing new for this set. So if you already have it on Blu-Ray, there's no need to double-dip to buy this one, but if you're a fan and interested in revisiting it in HD, this new packaging is definitely a fun option.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 10/5/26)