Catfight

Cat claws are joined by rock, brick, hammer, wrench, tire iron and more as a pair of self-important and toxic narcissists sink their fangs into each other. Ashley and Veronica are from opposite sides of the political spectrum yet both share an unquenchable hatred for anyone who attacks their image. Veronica (Sandra Oh) is a caustic and drunken gold digger married to a businessman making insane profits from a war in the Middle East. She encourages her son to be anything other than a useless artist. Ashley (Anne Heche) is a sadistic painter whose apocalyptic view of war tolerates no blasphemies, including and not limited to the "false color" blue. Her partner is a clueless snob who, like herself, rejects anything that isn't a carbon copy of her own fluctuating views. Ashley and Veronica are former college acquaintances, now in their forties, who meet at a party. Soon they enter into a bitter, knock- down and bone- crushing brawl in the stairwell. This won't be the only fight. In their all-consuming rivalry they risk losing everything. The heat of a fire consumes all the fuel and air before it dies.

Catfight is fueled by dark humor and a realistic portrayal of narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissists believe that money, success and power entitles them to treat others like trash. Yet narcissists are useful to the world because they see through all its fallacies (the greatest sinners make the best preachers). Ashley and Veronica are self-absorbed, have no empathy for others and treat their assistants more like servants and machines than persons. They are too broken to reveal their wounds to others though, which is why they never truly heal.

The violence in Catfight is really brutal and vastly different from other cinematic fight scenes. The female on female fighting is just one aspect that makes the fight scenes different. Other nuances include creative brawling tools and settings, compelling themes and characters, and great acting. Anne Heche and Sandra Oh are versatile, capable actors that are adept at this type of satire. Catfight's director, in the question and answer session after the film, said that Anne and Sandra had different, but equally effective, styles of preparing for the scenes. One actor was methodical in planning and preparation, and the other was energized by each passing moment. World premiere seen at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

There's a really good movie in here, trying to escape and transcend the trashy selling point of girl-on-girl violence. When it comes, it is shocking and over-extended, in a way that can only mean someone is getting a kick out of it, thus cheapening the film and taking it perilously close to Russ Meyer, "Faster, Pussycat" territory. Then there's the lesbian couple, who don't get violent but who do a lot of tongues, again unnecessary and overdone. Underneath it all is a fresh and original take on family relations, mother-daughter jealousy, pseudiness in the art scene, etc.

'CATFIGHT': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

An action-comedy written and directed by veteran indie filmmaker Onur Tukel. It stars Sandra Oh and Anne Heche as two women involved in a very bitter, and sometimes extremely violent, lifelong rivalry. The movie costars Alicia Silverstone, Amy Hill, Giullian Yao Gioiello, Craig Bierko and Dylan Baker. It had a limited release in indie theaters, and on video on demand, and now it's available to rent on video. It's a crazy film, but surprisingly insightful (in a really dark and twisted way).

Veronica Salt (Oh) and Ashley Miller (Heche) were friends in college, but they drifted apart over the years. Veronica is now a wealthy housewife, with a teenage son (Gioiello). Ashley is now a struggling artist, that's trying to conceive a child with her girlfriend (Silverstone). When the two meet at a party, after not seeing each other for several years, they immediately start judging and offending each other. Then the insults turn into a violent (and very bloody) brawl, that leaves the two in a bitter grudge match for many years to come.

The film is definitely funny, but in a really disturbing and gloomy way. It's also very violent, in a very shocking and unsettling way as well. The script is pretty clever though, and the two lead performances are both great in it. It's a hard movie to watch at times, and it doesn't leave you feeling very positive about things when it's over, but it is a very interesting and insightful film too. I would definitely still recommend it.

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This certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea but I quite enjoyed the sheer nihilistic futility of it all. Catfight is certainly original and takes on a narrative that keeps you guessing right to the end. There are some great digs at the pretentiousness of modern art and some gloriously violent fight scenes. You may hate it but it's definitely worth a try if you enjoy black comedy.

The best thing about Catfight is that it offers a fairly unique and hard to find change of pace from many of the current crop of teen and young adult comedies.

Also on the plus side, it moves from a clearly satirical base into one of the most bizarre and (arguably) violent little feuds ever filmed (in the history of the medium) between two female characters who, presumably, should know better.

"Adults behaving badly" ... on steroids.

Which of course is its charm.

It also boasts performances from Heche and Oh which are not merely good but extraordinary. No matter how bizarre the character, no matter how over-stretched the script and dialog, these two actresses are fully committed to their portrayals.

It is the job of the reviewer to identify analogs of a story to better compare and contrast the production.

In the case of Catfight, this is not as easy as it looks.

While the overall plot can perhaps find resonances (for example) in something like Bad Santa 2003 (the first one, not the sequel) the overall tone and wickedness of the story, the complete disregard for anything resembling a normal dramatic narrative -- such as for example the over-utilization of "coma" as a continuity device? -- would require a trip back in time to the so-called experimental films of the 1960s.

Overall the final effect is remarkably like a car accident that attracts rubber-neckers, moreso than a cinematic breakthrough that attracts fans.

In other words, it is fun, novel, and interesting on first viewing. Something to tell your friends about.

But whether you would ever want to see another film just like it remains an open question.