That Darn Cat

"That Darn Cat" is a makeover of the Disney film with Haley Mills. This time around, the world is darker, the main character is darker...and the cat is darker.

Christina ("Addams Family," "Sleepy Hollow") Ricci is the main character for our story. She's a psychopathic, Gothic creature with black all around. She moves to a new town, finds a new cat, finds a new mystery, and solves it (I wasn't expecting that). Along the way is Thomas F. Wilson, better known as Biff from "Back to the Future," and Michael McKean--who does a bunch of nothing considering how funny the guy usually is.

"That Darn Cat" fails on a lot of levels. It's watchable, and probably should be seen once on TV, but I wouldn't go out of your way to see it.

Christina Ricci is fine as the title character; but I found that the whole moody, Gothic thing was a bit overdone--whether it was on the script like that or not, it was overbearing. They kept stressing to the audience, "This girl is dark," but I think I got it the first time.

Dean Jones, from the original "That Darn Cat," makes a few cameos in this flick. Whatever happened to him? The last I remember him in a film without being a cameo was "Beethoven"...

Thomas F. Wilson does seem to prove he can act out characters other than Biff, Griff and Buford Tannen, but if I were him I wouldn't quit the day job just yet--a film like this isn't going to get him back in the acting arena.

The film's gags don't exactly work all the time. Sometimes they work a little bit, but on the whole, this film is a pretty big mess that should only be seen on television when nothing good is on.

2/5 stars -

John Ulmer

P.S.--Be on the lookout for cameos galore, including "Cheers" man John Ratzenburger.

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!

I just saw this tonight on TV for the first time and loved it. I thought it was funny, warm-hearted and enjoyed the mystery story and also the cat's antic's. Perhaps it helps that I'm a cat lover. I'm an adult and don't always like kid's movies but I like some and I liked this. And that cat is super cute too. Sure this movie is not for everyone - but you can say that about every movie even the blockbusters - but well I saw it, loved it and thought it deserved a review from someone who liked the movie too! Had some laugh-out-loud moments for me and some aw moments and I thought the acting and casting were good too and the characters likable. I agree, some silly scenes but all part of the fun! The cat's pyjamas!

I was 12 years old when I saw the original film (I lived in Italy and the Italian title was "FBI, OPERATION CAT!") That was a fun film and not just for kids. This awful remake it's pathetic even for a 5 year old! What possessed Disney to ruin their reputation and the memory of a lovely film I don't know and I just can't believe it. Even the title song in the original film (both original version and the dubbed Italian version) was extremely nice and creating the mood for the story. On this remake the title song is even worst than the movie itself. It was just nice to see Dean Jones even if for just a cameo appearance, he was a regular on the great old Disney's films. I cannot honestly see anything else positive in this remade movie.