The Truth About Cats & Dogs

"The Truth About Cats and Dogs" may be a charming and (rare these days) profanity free comedy, but it reveals some unpleasant truths about Hollywood and maybe American society as a whole. Janeane Garofolo plays a veterinarian who dispenses advice about pets on a radio talk show. One male caller is so taken with her voice and personality that he asks her for a physical description and a meeting. Insecure about her looks, the petite brunette describes herself as a tall blonde, and when her admirer appears at the radio station, he is introduced to Uma Thurman, a tall blonde, who agrees to trade places with Garofolo. The message of this film is that the beauty within is more important than physical attractiveness, but the other unintended message is that physical beauty is not in the eye of the beholder but determined by how closely one resembles the seemingly bulimic fashion models plastered on magazine covers. Uma Thurman is a perfect match which is the same as saying she is, in Hollywood's eyes, perfect. I couldn't disagree more. Thurman is a bag of bones and, to my eyes, not at all attractive. Garofolo, who at one point in the film is called "ugly," is, in fact, the woman with the most appeal, physically and in terms of personality. She makes this movie worth remembering.

This is a lovely, funny and well done romantic comedy. I have to admit I am impressed by the folks who continue to say they felt JG was too pretty to be Abby and that it just didn't ring true to them because of that fact. Well I'm here to tell you folks that this movie is closer to the truth than you realize. One of the things that DOES make this film soo good is that Abby is truly a lovely woman but is surrounded by main stream media and what it says beauty is, namely, Noelle, played admirably by Uma Thurman. Yes Abby is a beautiful woman, but as a woman who looks nothing like all the adds on TV or magazines like JG it is easy to see why she would think she isn't. And honestly I know way too many men who would pass her by in favor of the Noelles of this world. I have a beautiful friend who is very similar to JG and she has had the same problems Abby has in this movie because of perceived images of beauty. THAT is the message this film is trying to make that Abby is beautiful and the media has put too much emphasis on stereotypes. No I don't think they should have hired an UGLIER actress that is simply ridiculous, the film was not about an ugly woman but a beautiful woman who has fallen into the trap of "THINKING" she is unattractive! Watch the movie again folks, you'll see what I mean.

If it doesn't irk you when a plot hinges on inexplicable errors made by supposedly intelligent characters, then you may not be annoyed by 'The Truth About Cats and Dogs,' a romantic comedy starring Janeane Garofalo as Abby, a supposedly intelligent, supposedly insightful, and supposedly unattractive veterinarian who hosts a radio call-in show.

A shy photographer (Brian or Eric or something) calls in to the show having trouble with a large dog he's mounted on roller skates for a shoot. Oh, he's so cuuuute!!! Our heroine is in a tizzy. They make a date, but too insecure to face him herself, Abby sends her neighbor, Uma Thurman. How this plan is supposed to work to Abby's advantage, I can't say. Time after time Abby and Uma pass up opportunities to straighten out the confusion. It's a good thing too, because that gives them time to learn a valuable lesson about looks and love, which is: Nice guys don't care about looks. Uh huh.

But audiences do, saith the producers. Thus we have the famously fabulous Thurman cast against girl-next-door Garofalo, who is no slouch in the looks department. So, as Abby, she is frumped up from the start in dowdy, fat-girl clothes and flat hair. It's the oldest trick in pictures. As the credits slowly approach, Abby magically acquires better clothes, a more flattering hairstyle, and a makeup job that gives her lush lips and discernible cheekbones. I guess looks still count for something.

Without a doubt, my favorite play ever written is CYRANO DE BERGERAC, by Edmund Rostand. People can tell me it's sentimental and mawkish, but I don't care; I absolutely love it. I've seen, I think, most, if not every, movie which has been inspired by it, from the 1950 version by Jose Ferrer(the movie is stagy and changes the play, but he's wonderful), to ROXANNE in 1987, Steve Martin's wonderful re-working of the play as romantic comedy, and best of all, the 1990 version starring Gerard Depardieu(how appropriate France's greatest actor should appear in it giving his best performance). Now comes this movie, which is inspired by it(as I understand it, writer Audrey Wells is a big fan as well) rather than being an outright remake of it, but it's still quite good.

Admittedly, it all hangs on a rather thin premise; that Brian(Ben Chaplin) is unable to tell the voices of Abby(Janeane Garofalo) and Noelle(Uma Thurman) apart. But romantic comedies have had more outrageous concepts before, and no one complained about how realistic they were(like RUNAWAY BRIDE; does anyone believe that one?). And by switching genders, it's able to talk about how women are forced to conform to an impossible ideal of beauty. And yet, at the same time, the message comes through comedy, so you're not being hit over the head.

Also, the performers are quite engaging. It goes without saying Janeane Garofalo is terrific in her first lead role. She's funny, as could be expected, but as she's had to fight the impossible ideal of beauty much of her career, you can sense something personal for her, and she brings that out without getting mawkish. Uma Thurman sends up the "dumb blonde" role without condescending to her. Plus, we like Noelle for the same reason we like Christian in the original; she's actually smarter about love than Abby is(when she says of Brian, "Plus, he's got this one, tiny little fault. He loves you."). Chaplin of course has the object of desire role, which is tough to play, but he brings humor and intelligence to it. And, of course, the dog is great.

When I read the synopsis for "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" I was hoping that it would not be another one of those overly sappy and corny romantic comedy that the movie industry tends to spew out by the dozens. And I was hoping it would be more than such, especially because it had Janeane Garofalo on the cast list.

I sat down to watch it in 2016, 20 years after it was released. And this was actually the first time that I have seen it, believe it or not.

And it turned out that "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" was a rather enjoyable movie, and one that did offer a bit more than your average run-of-the-mill romantic comedies.

The story is about low self-esteemed radio show host Abby who gives a caller named Brian some good advice on how to befriend a dog. And when Brian wants to repay her for her helpful advice, Abby turns to Noelle, a tall model living in her building, to stand in for her and pretend to be her.

Of course, there are elements of classic romantic comedy to "The Truth About Cats & Dogs", but it does have more than just that. I liked the aspect of the switched roles and pretending to be someone you are not, as it offered a different approach to the story.

And the cast in "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" was just phenomenal. Uma Thurman and Ben Chaplin were doing great jobs and were nicely cast. However, it was Jeneane Garofalo who stole the scene, without a doubt. With her amazing on-screen charisma and presence, she just carried the movie so well on her shoulders. She was an absolute delight to witness in this movie.

I was more than genuinely entertained by "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" and it turned out to be a much better movie than I had hoped. So if you haven't already seen his movie, and if you enjoy romantic comedies, then I can more than warmly recommend that you take the time to sit down and watch "The Truth About Cats & Dogs".

"The Truth About Cats & Dogs" scores a solid six out of ten stars rating from me.