Safari Ben says CAT IN THE HAT will easily be forgotten... Vomit Lad likes it...

Hey folks, Harry here... wow... CAT IN THE HAT sounds boring as hell. Well, the reviewer does profess to not caring for Mike Myers that much, so that could have a major sway in things, but I'm not the biggest Mike Myers fan either. So is this a film by a production designer, where the production design overshadows everything else? Or was this reviewer just not the right person to see this movie? We'll see from more reviews in the future.

Hello Harry, Safari Ben here with a review for the new Universal film, "The Cat in the Hat."       

A few days ago, I had received a flyer for a screen of a film at Universal Studios that was given the title of "Movie Screening."  The girl who gave me the flyer was being very secretive...telling me that she wasn't allowed to say what film it was, only that it was a 'live-action, fantasy family film.'  Since it was being shown at Universal, I figured that this had to be one of their big Christmas films.  So, I went home and began checking out what they were releasing for the fall.  I was hoping...actually praying for it to be "Peter Pan," but, no such luck...I got stuck with the disappointment that was, "The Cat in the Hat."       

First off, I should say, that I can't really remember the books all that well.  My strongest memories of Dr. Seuss are from the brilliant Chuck Jones classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."  I can't recall much about his most famous literary invention, The Cat, for which he is probably best know for.  Furthermore, I'd have to say that I've never really been a big fan of Mike Myers...not to say that I don't like him, just never been much of a fan.  But more on him later.       

So we were brought into the Alfred Hitchcock Theater on the backlot of Universal.  A few minutes after I took my seat, they began seating the crew...and in walks Jeffrey Katzenberg, who ended up sitting right in front of me.  Another few minutes passed and Ron Howard turned up.  So it seemed I was sitting in good company.  A few more minutes had passed and then there was the announcement that this was the first public screening of the film...which apparently pleased the audience...and without wasting much time, they began the film.       

As soon as we were told what we were seeing, I can't say that I was all that overjoyed...this is not a film that I would have rushed out to see in the theaters.  Now, I pretty much felt the same way about the previous Seuss film, "The Grinch," with Jim Carrey, but I did end up seeing that film, and while I wasn't nuts about it...I did find it mildly entertaining.  I decided to let go of any preconceived feelings I had about this film and give it a chance.       

The lights dimmed and the film began to roll.  The opening logos appeared for Universal, Dreamworks and Imagine, the same way they did with, "A Beautiful Mind," only with a Seuss spin, complete with an opening musical overture my David Newman.  The end of each logo dissolved into a Suess version of the respective companies logo...which I thought was a nice twist and got myself quickly into the headspace of what I was about to see.  And for that moment, the briefest of moments, I thought that maybe everything was going to be all right.  The film began, and I was quickly reminded of, "The Grinch," as well as much of first time director Bo Welch's early production design work...films such as, "Batman Returns," "Beetlejuice," and especially, "Edward Scissorhands."  The same style of design applied here.  The costumes, sets the whole feel of the film very much reminded me of "Scissorhands."  The bright colors, the cartoony look...all very familiar.       

Then we are introduced to Kelly Preston, the mother of the lead characters and her boss Sean Hayes.  It's just a quick intro...and the filmmakers let us know early on, that this is going to be a film about 'overdoing it.'  Sean Hayes plays the boss as a snobby perfectionist with a germ problem.  After shaking the hands of a coworker, he quickly reaches under his jacket for a holstered disinfectant, playing the scene as over the top as you can get.  You get the feeling early on that the directors main piece of advice to the actors must have been, "do it bigger, you're not overexaggerating enough."  Then we are given the simple plot setup from Hayes.  That Kelly Preston is to host an office party at her house and that "this time" her house better be spotless.       

And so, from here we are taken through a window, across the neighborhood and through the eyehole into the living room of Kelly Preston's house, in what is a very well done, single shot effect.  One of the few effects of note in this "effects fantasy film."  Here we meet the kids, both played well by Spencer Breslin (The Kid) and Dakota Fanning (I am Sam).  The kids had charm, I had to admit that, with their comic timing spot on for such young actors...I just wish they had a script.  There is another quick setup scene here in which Kelly Preston informs the kids that there is to be a party later that evening and not to mess up the house.  One things leads to another and she is called back to the office.  All this happens rather quickly and feels very, very forced.        

No surprises here, within minutes we finally get Mike Myers as The Cat.  And for my money, from this moment on, the movie starts a downward spiral.  I'm not going to go into much detail, because honestly, just talking about this film is boring the hell out of me.  But what we get from here on out, is one lame, forced, obvious and over the top joke after another.  The script was written by Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel, three writers from the show Seinfeld and featuring the sometimes very funny Mike Myers, but it seems to fall very flat.  The script felt to be another in a long line of scripts written by committee...watered down and drained of any life in the please the lowest common denominator sort of way.  Now, I must admit, from time to time I did laugh, but every time I did I felt almost embarrassed that I was laughing at such an unoriginal joke.  And yes, the audience laughed to, but there was also plenty of silence.        

Mike Myers gave a performance that seemed to stem from having a weak script, playing a cross between the Cowardly Lion from, "The Wizard of OZ," and a very unfunny, drawn out Robin Williams comedy bit.  Every time Myers made an exit out of frame, he would ham it up like an overanxious wanna be actor in a fast food mascot costume.  Now, this seemed to work for Jim Carrey in a full body costume because he naturally has that physicality...but for Myers it just doesn't work.  He looked like an overweight guy in a cat suit trying too hard to get the humor out through the make up and prosthetics.       

From here we get a series of bad musical numbers, lame set pieces, more over acting, forced plot points, and some very surreal side characters in 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two,' which I'm sure I would have enjoyed if I were on acid...or if I was an eight year old.  And through this all, we finally got to the climax of the film.  Our characters, having unwittingly opened a 'box' which destroyed the house...now have to hurry to clean up the mess before Mom gets home, which we get to see in an embarrassing, 'clean up the house montage,' complete with a peppy pop song.  Myers actually acknowledges the, 'pop song' in an attempt at humor, which falls flat...and that, simply put, is the 'plot' of the film.  Apparently, this is a message movie, done in the way Stan and the boys from 'South Park,' would present it...quickly, awkwardly, coming out of nowhere, making it laughable.   And in the end all this left me thinking, "but why?"  It had no real, memorable laughs, no great catch phrases to repeat to my friends, no exciting plot, not even eye catching effects to fall back on.  Now, I know that the film is going to be geared towards kids...and for anyone between the ages of six and ten they might enjoy it.  But as I noted in my comment card at the end of it all..."this will be a film that will easily be forgotten a year from now."  And probably sooner.  And I have a feeling that kids will feel the same way too, quickly forgetting this movie by the time they wake up the next morning.  But that's just my opinion and I do tend to be hard on films when i critique them...so, please, feel free to go see it and make up your own minds.

--Safari Ben

Meanwhile, back at Geek HQ - I just got a fairly specific free positive review... but the reviewer admits to having a fondness for the excruciatingly awful SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER... so, if you loved that one, maybe this'll work for ya...