THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS
1996 -- PG-13 -- 97 mins
Directed by Michael Lehmann. Written by Audrey Wells.
Janeane: Abby Barnes
Uma Thurman: Noelle Slusarsky
Ben Chaplin: Brian
Jamie Foxx: Ed
James McCaffrey: Roy
Richard Coca:
Eric
Stanley DeSantis: Mario
Mary Lynn Rajaskub:
Female Caller
Bob Odenkirk: Book
Store Man
David Cross: Male Caller/Book
Store Man
Mitch
Rouse: Bee Man
"You can love your pet, but just don't love your pet"
PLOT SYNOPSIS:
Abby Barnes is the host of The Truth About Cats & Dogs, a radio call-in show that deals with pet care. On the air Abby is a sharp, charming presence, but off the air she's a mass of insecurities and paranoia. When a caller, Brian, asks her out on date, she chickens out and sends her neighbour, model Noelle, in her place. Brian falls for Abby's phone voice charm and intelligence, while believing Noelle is that very woman. With a romance developing between Brian and Noelle, Abby finds herself on the side lines, watching the man she's growing to love be with the woman pretending to be her.
JANEANES CHARACTER:
Quite simply, Janeane's character IS the film. She's on screen for most of the movie, and the other characters revolve around her. Abby is a wonderful role for Janeane, seemingly written with her in mind. Despite her self-conscious nature, Abby is a very strong role, witty, intelligent and compassionate. Janeane brings so much to the role, it's impossible to imagine anyone playing the part but her. By the end of the movie, audiences can't help but be won over by Abby, even if they didn't like the rest of the movie. She's irresistible. She also received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Comedic Performance. However, she lost to her Cable Guy co-star, Jim Carrey.
MY REVIEW:
**1/2
This is probably Janeane's most famous starring vehicle, and on those terms it really does hit the nail on the head. Previously, her performances had been less appealing (if very funny) and edgier. Here she takes the mantle of leading lady, and the surprise success of the film had her being hailed as the new Sandra Bullock. Of course, Garofalo kept appearing in smaller films and staying just outside the mainstream, which is an admirable thing in itself.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs another basic rehash of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac, and as a low expectations romantic comedy, it does work. However, it also gives a rather sad scenario and a leading character who, although totally charming, is a less than emotionally stable. The story revolves around the idea that Abby is unattractive, or at least in her own eyes. Several times through the movie, especially in the early scenes, we see Abby being ignored or put down, apparently because of her looks. There's a funny, if unbelievable, moment in which she gets into an elevator, full of tall, good looking young people. The problem is accepting her as an attractive, inconsequential person when it's blatantly obvious that she IS a very good looking woman. That's not just my biased view either...everyone came out of this movie with that opinion. If anything, she is short, but that's not exactly a reason to throw a bag over your head.
In addition, the Abby character doesn't actually do anything to do empower herself and gain self esteem, which would have been the logical development for the character. Noelle and Abby's scheme is foiled by accident when Brian stumbles into the truth, instead of either ladies revealing it. For that matter, the stupidity of Brian is another tough to swallow aspect of the script. After spending two minutes in the presence of Noelle, it should occur to anyone with a half brain that she is not the same person he had been talking to over the phone. Romantic comedies are never running on brain-cells, and this is certainly no exception.
That said, the film is entertaining, and often quite funny. There's a nice assortment of one liners (fired off by Janeane, naturally), and some cute work by Brian's rollerskating dog. The performances of Thurman and relative newcomer Chaplin are very nice. Thurman, who was so great in Pulp Fiction and rather cold in a few other projects, seems to have no trouble in playing a character who's good hearted yet empty headed. Some leading ladies might not have taken such a role. Chaplin, who's since proven himself to be a damn fine drama actor in The Thin Red Line among others, is a warm and endearing leading man...even if I bit overly dense to be believed. The supporting cast features a number of appearances (or vocal appearances) by some of Janeane's comedic comrades and co-stars. Director Lehnmann (who directed Janeane on The Larry Sanders Show), although obviously away from the more outrageous material of his earlier works Heathers and Meet The Applegates, handles things well enough, if a little uninspired. There's one sequence that is a unexpected for a PG-13 feature...a surprisingly tender phone sex/masturbation scene between Abby and Brian.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs ultimately doesn't hold up as well I remember because of the contrivances, but as a star vehicle for the breaking-out Garofalo, it fits the bill nicely.
CRITIC QUOTES:"Two words: Janeane Garofalo. She's our favorite insecure heroine, she's the girlfriend you want or the girl you want to be, and she turns this smart, romantic comedy into pure bliss. Uma Thurman's in it too, and cute Brit Ben Chaplin as the guy who wisely chooses depth (thats our Janeane) over gloss." -- Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwazbaum, in her ten best film list of 96. Cats & Dogs was number 9.
"Here we see an entire other side to her personality; a smartness, a penetrating wit, that takes this old story and adds a wry spin to its combination of romance, sweetness and hope." -- Roger Ebert.
VIDCAPS (scanned by me, Earl)
