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Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Produced by Lisa Ellzey
Written by Gwyn Lurie, Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, Daniel Antoniazzi, Ben Shiffrin
Starring Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Robbie Amell, Cheryl Hines, Mark Consuelos, Malina Weissman, Christopher Walken
Budget: $30M
I wonder what these people did to get forced into this movie.
Really, that's the only excuse I can fabricate for the reason these people are here. This is a talking animal body switch movie released in 2016 with A-list stars, an actual director, and real talent behind the production.
How much cocaine did EuropaCorp supply to lure them in? This is the same studio that released Taken.
Kevin Spacey plays Tom (Todd? Mark? Frank? does it matter?), a mean business dad who is obsessed with building the tallest structure in North America. He has a neglected son (Amell), daughter (Weissman), and wife (Garner) who love him despite his tycoonery. Spacey's daughter wants a cat for her birthday, so he winds up buying a cat from Felix Perkins (Walken). After confronting his scheming manager (Consuelos) about attempting to sell the company out from under him he falls off his tower and wakes up in the cat's body. He had to learn to love again before his comatose body dies so he can switch back.
You've seen this movie before.
The Bizarre
First off, how about the fact that this movie was made at all, with the cast involved? Principal photography began in May of 2015 and took two months. This was after the third season of House of Cards. What is happening?
Now, this movie is presented as a comedy, and to be fair I actually chuckled a few times early on, primarily due to Hines's performance as Spacey's divorced first wife. She has the best delivery of the cast, with my favorite line where she tells her jerk of a daughter, "I'm not a role model dear, you know that," as she sips at her martini.
This was released the same day as Suicide Squad.
I'm not entirely sure this isn't supposed to be a stealth parody of talking animal movies, but it loses any real sense of cleverness as it drags on for almost 90 minutes.
I Don't Know What Else To Say
I'm fairly certain I was sober when I watched this, but I have to wonder now that I look back. Garner is playing her role completely straight. Spacey doesn't care. Walken is doing the same stuff he did in Click and essentially plays exactly the same character (minus the "Angel of Death" reveal). Weissman is 13 but her character is written as if she's four years old and unaware of just what's happening with her comatose dad. The evil manager is played like a mustache twirler.
I also have to wonder at Sonnenfeld's direction here. Transitions are done with these long, cross-city zooms, so we'll leave the window of one skyscraper, zoom across Manhattan, and reach another board room just as Spacey enters. The score reminds me of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies. The CGI and cat puppetry is awful.
Why was this made.
Just...I can't sum this up properly. See if you can find a free version, get some friends, and marvel at what mankind has created.
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