That Darn Cat (1997)

The first must-see film of the year.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The acting in this movie is really good.

That Darn Cat (1997): Dir: Bob Spiers / Cast: Christina Ricci, Doug E. Doug, Michael McKean, Dyan Cannon, Peter Boyle: Utterly boring and stupid remake of the 1965 original. This version is about as exciting as getting a vasectomy. Witless plot regards a cat that prowls out at exactly eight-o-clock. It diverts a dog's attention so to steal its food before the mutt receives a fence board to the head. It would watch a bird through a window, then a cat, etc, etc. Who gives a crap. A kidnapped rich woman slips a watch around its neck and its owner played by Christina Ricci investigates. She is joined by rookie cop Doug E. Doug who will obviously prove himself to his fellow cops. The cat is not half as interesting as the Siamese in the original. Uninspired directing by Bob Spiers whose locations are the only area of compliment. Ricci deserves better than this, and Doug overacts as the rookie cop viewed as a joke to others on the force. Being part of this film will not likely help him in the popularity polls either. Michael McKean, Peter Boyle and Dyan Cannon make forgettable appearances and that is pretty pathetic considering the talent involved. It is a family mystery but lacks the intrigue of the original, which wasn't quite as corny as this turned out to be. Perhaps if the cat was given a personality then perhaps this film might have rose above mediocre, otherwise it has all the ambition of a cut dog. Score: 1 / 10

The main reason why I wanted to see this movie remake was because of Christina Ricci who I loved in Casper and the two Addams Family movies. While she was decent in the title role, although her character is pretty bratty and unlikeable, the cat is cute and Doug E.Doug brings a touch of class to Zeke, the whole film could have been much better. Other than Ricci and Jones, the remainder of the cast are unexceptional and that for me was a disappointment as I like Michael McKean, he is very talented, as was Peter Boyle. The cinematography and scenery from decent to adequate, but the real problems were in the story and the script. The story is very predictable, and there are parts where it drags very badly. The script is also very weak, lacking in a lot of areas, and I did feel the music was not that great either. The length is just right, but with such pedestrian pacing it feels twice as long sometimes. Also there is nothing new from the original, which was very entertaining otherwise unexceptional. Overall, watchable but disappointing. 4/10 Bethany Cox

They made this movie modern, but they also made it more realistic! I am soooo sick of this "Reality TV" era. People seem to have forgotten that fantasy and exercising the imagination are the original reasons for and the very fabric of entertainment movies. For example, in the original, Patricia Randall and her older sister, Ingrid, were living alone at their house while their parents were traveling in Europe. The character of Ingrid was not even in this movie. Part of the fun of the original was that Ingrid Randall and Zeke Kelso were starting to fall in love. Their parents never called their daughters or anything. In real life, few parents would actually stay away that long at once, and even if they did, they would keep closer tabs on their girls. In the new version, Patricia Randall is an only child and her parents happen to be out of the house or just unaware of what is happening. Who cares whether or not it would happen in real life? That was the original point to making movies like that Darn Cat; so that people would get to see things happen the way that they WANT them to happen, not the way that they actually do happen. Christina Ricci also degraded the precocious but sweet character that Hayley Mills originated. Of course, the decay and crudity of the modern world had to be embedded into this movie that was assumed to be like the original; safe and fun for all ages! It was nice to see Dean Jones in the movie, but that is just about the only positive thing I can think of about this version. On top of everything else, the original version immortalized D.C. as a SIAMESE cat(No other kind of cat should have been used), and the rocky title song of this movie was JUNK! It was not at all worthy to be compared to the soothing, orchestrated title song in the original, written by Richard and Robert Sherman, the composers of music for many other Disney classics (e.g. The Parent Trap, Mary Poppins),and sung beautifully by Bobby Darin. What is wrong with today's producers? Do they not want their children to enjoy the same harmless but fun entertainment that helped make their own childhoods memorable? It is a good thing that the classics are being re-released on video and DVD because right now, the past seems to be the only place to find true family entertainment.

I have an extremely open mind when it comes to Hollywood remaking, revisiting, creating a sequel to, or otherwise building upon an established film. Consider that mind slammed firmly shut!The original "Darn Cat" featured a precocious feline surrounded by a village of humans (some funny, some scary, some just plain annoying). But the cat always remained at the center of the story, and the cat's actions are what propelled the whole thing forward. But here, the focus is on Patty Randall (Christina Ricci) and her FBI-rookie pal, Zeke Kelso (Doug E. Doug).Apparently, the producers knew that they had an up-and-coming young starlet in their midst when they created this litter-box, because the focus is moved away from D.C. and onto Ricci's bratty and generally unlikeable Patty Randall. While no producer can be blamed for seeing talent and grabbing it (Two "Addams Family" films and "Casper the Friendly Ghost" had already gotten Ricci significant exposure!), they forgot that the film's title is "That Darn Cat"... not "That Darn Pat".And it shows. We still have a minor league all-star cast, and we still have the FBI agent, the young girl and her cat as the heroes of the piece, but we cannot even see the villains (who provided so much of the menace in the original) and we see entirely too much of the assortment of freaks, geeks and throwaway nutcases that populate this burg.I submit a challenge: Watch this one, then go back and watch the original. Then TRY to remember something significant that the cat in the new version did.See, you're learning!