P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!

Jimmy (Steve Guttenberg), a failed writer and actor, comes home on New Years Eve to find his girlfriend has left him, his cat has died and a gay burglar (Lombardo Boyar) is robbing his place...for the third time that month. He captures him, ties him up and things get strange.

James Kirkwoods' play was an off-Broadway hit in the 1970s. I never saw it but I read the script and it was wonderful. This film comes far too late--the play was very much of its time. The gay character (which was pretty revolutionary when the play came out) is old hat by now and the movie feels washed out. Basically the comedy doesn't work. Boyar is VERY good in his role but Guttenberg (who can be good) was pretty bad. Maybe both directing and acting for the movie was too much. The two actors have no chemistry at all (even though Boyar is trying). The movie isn't unwatchable...it's just no big deal. Also Guttenberg's apartment was WAY too big and beautifully decorated for a starving artist. They also (badly) changed the ending of the play.

So it's worth seeing for Boyar alone. Also he's got guts--he spends half the movie tied down with his pants cut wide open showing his back side. I give it a 7 for him alone.

I am the owner of the official website of the great, late actor, Sal Mineo. I rented this as Sal was starring in the hit play shortly before his murder, which is now this film, and I was curious. I am impressed! Lombardo Boyer plays the role Sal was playing, and gave me an idea of what Sal's performance was like in the play. Boyer is great! Steve Guttenberg is great here too, who also adapted this to film and directed it. I am suprised it wasn't released by a bigger studio! The credits dedicate the film to SAL MINEO!! Bless you, Steve.

This film has without a doubt the most hilarious scene any movie has ever had. I laughed so hard I nearly hurt myself. I had no idea what to expect when I ordered the DVD online - the only reason I got it was because Steve Guttenberg was in it and I absolutely LOVE him - is there anyone more adorable in the movies than Steve? I don't think so. In fact it is his adorable nature that works so well in this film. It's such a contrast from the dark side that threatens to overwhelm the adorable side. It's hit and miss whether the good or the bad will win out and you are kept at the edge of your seat because you are with him 100% and you support whatever he does because he has a right to do it. Am I vague enough? Have I whetted your appetite to see the film? I have been a Steve Guttenberg fan ever since I can remember. He really has a unique quality that no actor in film has and that quality is what made him a star. The supporting cast is also superb - everyone of them - but it's Steve who really rules the roost. And you love him every minute.

This is a small film dealing with people going through breakdowns of various relationships. The main character is on the verge of being evicted from his apartment, having his girl-friend leaving him for another man, learning that his feline companion has died from a urinary infection at the vet's, and being burgled for a second time in two day's.

Steve Guttenberg does a super job as Jimmy, the main character. In fact, the entire cast does excellent work, especially, Ms Watrous, as the Jimmy's girl friend, and Lombardy, the young actor who plays the burglar.

The sense of outrage and loss which Jimmy feels comes across powerfully, as he takes his frustration out on the captured burglar who is bound and strapped semi-nude over the kitchen sink. What could have become ludicrous becomes very touching as each of them slowly realizes that they have much more in common than they could ever have realized. They are each others salvation! (Actually, it seems that the core of this awareness has been edited out because things happen a little too quickly! Several lines don't make sense)

I would say that the film does not go far enough in conveying the emotion that is developing between Jimmy and the burglar. There is a holding back which does not seem realistic. Even on the special feature section of the DVD the cast was responding to the final scenes and began shouting out comments as to the lack of physical expression between the two men.

Funny stuff. I laughed my ass off. I went in on a whim and I was glad that I did. It was a real emotional roller coaster. I couldn't make up my mind with what they were trying to say with the ending, but aside from that it was fun.