A Street Cat Named Bob (2016)

Excellent but underrated film

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Such a good movie; it touches on heavy human issues like homelessness, addiction, and family dysfunction, and the importance of having support, which comes in all shapes and sizes, and in this case, in a cat. It touches on the special healing quality of the unconditional love and support that comes with having a pet. Animals are there where people sometimes fail.

As James struggles to escape heroin addiction, busking in Covent Garden doesn't prove successful. When a ginger tom cat adopts him (and vice versa), he finds that having it perch on his shoulders becomes a strong selling point, and his growing relationship with the cat and mounting local celebrity status help his escape from the depths of addiction.This true-life story is nicely, if undemandingly, realised. Given a family-friendly certificate in the UK, James' addiction and weaning off methadone is shown perhaps a little more gently than might actually have been the case, but that doesn't matter: the story is inspirational and merits a little de-sensationalising in order to deliver it to an audience which might benefit from the message it contains.Luke Treadaway delivers a sympathetic James (I was so glad when he washed his hair at the end), Joanne Froggatt is good as his social worker, Ruta Gedmintas is appealing as neighbour and possible future love interest Be''y (it says "Betty" in the cast list, but glottal stops are substituted for t's on the soundtrack), but lets talk about Bob.David Head wasn't given a great deal to do as James' estranged father but, by gum, he was good.I saw this in a cinema where the audience contained quite a lot of cat lovers. I could tell this, because whenever Bob got a closeup, which was quite frequently, there was a communal "Aah" from the selection of, mostly, ladies. I've got to be honest, I found this irritating. I mean, I wouldn't kick a cat (well, not deliberately), but come on!So my verdict on this is that it is a moderately heartwarming and uplifting true-life saga, a bonus if you like cats, but do try not to see it in a cinema full of moggyphiles.

I have to premise that I am strongly convinced that animals are just animals. I feel annoyed by people who say "Animals are better than humans: they don't betray you " and bulls**t like this.Thus I hated people who ignored James without the cat and are kind and generous with the cat. Just like I hate cat and/or dog videos on social media. In my country, in Italy, there are more pets than babies, and I'll be happy with our extintion as a species because we deserve it.On the other side there is the story of redemption of James who finds an aim through the cat who becomes his project. I am happy with this, but is it not a kind of sad to think that no human being, not even his own father, has helped him to recover?One moment: a decent person in this movie does exist and is Val, the social worker. She is the actual heroine (no pun intended).Social workers are at very high risk of burning out because they usually cannot see very much good results of their (hard) work. I sincerely admired the character of Val. She believed in James and gave him a home and advices and after all James success was also her success.I did not find the movie so embroidered as other reviewers have said before me. The story is quite harsh and it is harshly told. Think at the sequence when he suffers for the methadone suspension! It was like Hell on Earth, and it was great that James succeded in healing. Not easy, and it was finely descripted.Acting was fine as Luke Treadaway did not push too strongly on the pleased compassion key. Directing was also fine and tones were not unbalanced even in the most dramatic moments, like the death of his mate.To me one of the toughest scene was when the lady wanted to BUY the cat and James told her if she wanted to sell her child. The lady was convinced that the cat had the right to have a home, her home, giving for granted that James was not a decent owner.Also when James says he was called "sir" for the first time AFTER he got the cat. The portrait of human misery in my opinion. If one gives a s**t about junkies, then he should care even less about a man with a cat!

A Street Cat Named BobA splendid human interest story of life's extremities from end to end. A true hidden gem that I chanced to come by and was so glad I did. It touched me like so few connecting immediately as the story played out from the character's experiences and emotions. Down on one's luck, imagine the distrait in failure in what it can do if you let it? Being drawn on someone else's troubles can be of introspect, one of understanding, and one of educational value, or simply, an innate desire to see other people do well and succeed. This was such a powerful story by way of it's delivery that I give thanks to Director, Roger Spottiswoode and his lead actor, Luke Treadaway. Rather than elaborating further I'll stop so you may experience this first hand .... This international best selling biography is a wonder and I encourage all to watch.