A Street Cat Named Bob

Bob was originally a street cat and picked up a tramp on the side of the road.

This man's name is James Bowen, poor, drug addicted, and earn money by singing on the street.

What can this kind cat can do? Of course, this person is adopted.

This was originally a very simple story. But as the story is real, it 's not simple any longer.

This film offers almost exactly what you would expect it to and there's nothing wrong with that. We've seen better movies about the trials of homelessness, the tortures involved in getting clean from heroin, especially the latter when it's worth remembering this is a 12A certificate and so the horrors experienced by the main character can't be quite as lurid, nightmarish and unsettling as those depicted in TRAINSPOTTING.

Otherwise, this adaptation of James Bowen's autobiography, his account of how he was saved by the unlikely companionship of Bob, is pretty likable stuff. Luke Treadaway's performance is perfectly fine; his depiction of a drug user who's lost everything and is living rough comes across as credible enough. If there's a sense of fantasy about the effect Bob has on his fortunes - Londoners react to Bob as though they've never seen a cat before - then you just have to go with it to an extent. The film makes it clear that Bob personifies James's salvation, and it was a lovely detail to discover one of the feline actors playing the cat was none other than Bob himself.

Anthony Head doesn't need to do much to play James's estranged father, but he handles the emotional turmoil hidden beneath the character's austere exterior really well. Joanne Froggatt and THE STRAIN's Ruta Gedmintas are memorable as James's doctor and distant love interest respectively. The latter is a bit too obviously 'hippy chick' but she just about gets away with it, and I respected that the romantic undertones of her story line climaxed in a bittersweet, realistic way.

For me, this is up there with EDDIE THE EAGLE as a title that won't win any awards and will never slay the box office, but it made me feel better for having seen it. I'm looking forward to reading Bowen's book now. And I once knew a cat called Bob - a more affectionate and avuncular friend I don't think I've ever had.

As an avid cat lover I was always going to enjoy this movie. And as a person who myself suffered an addiction, and am in recovery, I totally related to the Lead Character in every way. Whilst dealing with the subject of addiction is a very difficult issue to cover, I thought this movie covered it well. Highlighting the lead character's isolation,, detachment from the outside World and people in general........and the redemption he found by meeting Bob, a wandering cat, who just happened to enter his life.

The touching story line that involved the developing relationship between him and Bob was beautifully told. The cat made him smile again, gave him a reason to live. His social skills with people were not good but with the cat, he became stronger and happier as each day passed.

This was a wonderfully uplifting film I related to on so many levels. Excellent acting, and Bob the cat. was the best of them !

Enjoyed the film and thought it was faithful to the book which made me view street people differently. It never was going to be a big budget blockbuster type movie and the way it was filmed suited the story. Having seen quite a few buskers around Covent Garden the scenes shot there looked authentic. All the relevant topics were covered and the shooting was well done. I don't think it could have been done much differently without making the film overlong. Being a cat owner may make be biased but the film does justice to the story and internet interest shown in the two main characters. We left the cinema having felt that the admission money was well spent - not always the case with some over hyped productions.

I bet this gets terrible reviews from the critics, because it has no ambitions except to tell (and embroider) a tale of real life (itself embroidered a little, OK...) . Anyway I just got home from seeing it, and it is no great work of art ... but it is a very enjoyable movie based more or less on a true story. If I had a criticism it would say cut the mouse (totally irrelevant to the film, but then I'm not a cat). If I wanted to heap praises I would say that Luke Treadaway does the main human role fantastically, Bob is pretty impeccable except for the dubbing, and Rute Gedmintas is incredibly lovely as the (fictitious?) love interest. If only Luke & Ruta could have ridden off into the Islington sunset together .... they seemed made for each other.