`STUART' A SWEET TECHNO-MARVEL.

Byline: David Bloom Staff Writer

When we first see the Littles (played in ``Leave It to Beaver''-ish strokes by Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie), we immediately know they are not like other people, certainly not like other New Yorkers.

They're pleasant, first of all, and somewhat wide-eyed, even bumpkinish for folks who have long lived in the heart of that metropolis, even in these hyperscrubbed, Giuliani-gentled days.

Perhaps that rather fantastical nature is why, when they decide to adopt a sibling for their young son (Jonathan Lipnicki, the tousled, gap-tooth tot from ``Jerry Maguire''), they don't much blink when a talking mouse begins chatting with them as they look over the orphanage's charges.

The mouse, of course, is Stuart, who quickly and without much more explanation or question becomes Stuart Little.

Stuart (voiced endearingly by Michael J. Fox) is a sweet little fellow, eager to please, modest, as unassuming as a daisy. But he's not exactly what brother George had been expecting when the folks headed off to the orphanage that fateful morning. Nor, for that matter, is he quite the cat's meow for the Littles' puffed-up Persian, Snowbell (voiced in hilariously simpering mode by Nathan Lane).

Snowbell is, in fact, traumatized at the thought of being ``pet cat to a mouse,'' and tries desperately to hide the mortifying fact from his friends. Once word gets out, though, he seeks the dubious help of street-tom toughs to end his misery and protect the species' honor.

That conflict provides most of the dramatic tension in what is otherwise a relentlessly sweet story, a story that nevertheless finds it necessary to repeatedly remind us it is a fairy tale (as though the adventures of a talking mouse might be anything else).

It is a mark of the film's technical achievements that we spend more time being annoyed by Stuart's sometimes cloying sweetness than we do accepting whether he's real, even though Stuart is almost completely computer generated.

The filmmakers, led by director Rob Minkoff (co-director of ``The Lion King'') and senior visual effects supervisor/second-unit director John Dykstra, somehow have managed to effectively drop Stuart's ephemeral presence in among live actors and sets, and have him interact not only with them but with live cat actors whose own ``talking'' is also animated a la ``Babe.''

Despite the many interaction problems that could arise here (see Jar Jar Binks, Ewan MacGregor and Liam Neeson), the Sony Imageworks visual effects allow us to believe he exists as a real ``actor'' every bit as much as his human, breathing counterparts.

Bigger problems lie with the script, which M. Night Shyamalan (who wrote and directed ``The Sixth Sense'') apparently struggled to fashion into shape over several tries and a couple of years.

Part of the blame can be laid to the episodic structure of the wonderful original book by E.B. White. Fashioned as a children's tale to be read a chapter a night, it doesn't easily lend itself to a film's more compressed and linear narrative.

The result is that some scenes, such as the nicely staged race of miniature boats in Central Park, feel as though they were glued onto the main story's superstructure, instead of being an organic part of its flow.

And the work of several uncredited but notable script doctors have given the movie a number of quite funny lines, especially for Lane's Snowbell, easily the movie's most entertaining - and conflicted - character. But sometimes those lines feel glued on as well, zingers that come out of nowhere and disappear nearly as quickly.

Overall, though, these are only moderate-sized quibbles in a generally enjoyable film. Director Minkoff here makes an able transition to mostly live action, keeping the pace brisk and action-filled, the live actors' performances tuned to an appropriately wide-eyed key of innocence. And he gets extra credit for getting great performances from the live feline actors here, who unlike his ``Lion King'' cats, can't be told what to do with the stroke of a pen.

The film's design is also terrific, with a sense of slightly off-center fantasy that's perfect for the material. It is a movie that children should enjoy greatly, and that adults - if they can avoid the sugar - will find sweet and lovable and frequent good fun.

The facts

The film: ``Stuart Little'' (G).

The stars: Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Jonathan Lipnicki.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Rob Minkoff. Cinematography by Guillermo Navarro. Screenplay by M. Night Shyamalan and Gregory J. Brooker, based upon the book by E.B. White. Senior visual effects supervisor John M. Dykstra for Sony Imageworks. Produced by Douglas Wick. Executive producers Jason Clark, Jeff Franklin and Steve Waterman.

Running time: One hour, 32 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Mortified at being the pet of a mouse, Snowbell, the family cat, takes measures to thwart the newest family member in ``Stuart Little.''