I saw the film without knowing any of the background surrounding how it was made. The cinematography is captivating. The writing crisp and intelligent. Many films crumble by having just those two attributes and nothing else. The Rat Thing builds upon those attributes by adding excellent direction and a cast of very qualified actors. With all of this put together, the film plays out as a wonderfully witty and charming audience pleaser. The screening I saw had the crowd laughing and rolling along for the ride. With all of the components of a large studio production, and I assumed it was, it is so inspiring to see a film that stayed true to form and maintained the vision of the writing. It is especially inspiring to find out that large studios had offered great sums of money for the script, but were refused when Kevin Keresey(Writer/Director/Actor) stuck to his conviction that those studios would undoubtedly alter the integrity of his vision. Way to go! This film is an all around hit in all aspects of film-making!