Gatos numa Roubada

Max, at age 19, is the first member of the Tomcats to get married. The guys put money in a fund which will go to the last single member of the group. Seven years later, Steve is married to Trisha in Vegas by a man who can be described as a cross between Elvis and Apu from 'The Simpsons'. Only Mike and Kyle are still single, and the fund has nearly a half million dollars.

Mike can't stop gambling until he is over $50,000 in debt to Carlos, who gives him a month to pay up, and each day a 'deposit' will be required. This means Mike's stuff gets 'repossessed'. Only one way out of this mess: Kyle has to get married so Mike will get the money. Kyle has vowed that he and Mike will have sex with every woman on Earth, but if he had to choose one to spend the rest of his life with, it would be Natalie, a bridesmaid at Max's wedding. Of course, Kyle cannot know what Mike is doing, and Mike and Natalie seem to like each other ...

At first I didn't think the word 'quality' could possibly apply to this movie. Shannon Elizabeth changed all that. I don't remember much about her performances in the 'American Pie' movies because it has been so long since I saw them, but I think here she may have given the best performance I have seen from her. That includes several appearances as the mother of Kelso's baby on 'That 70s Show'. And she was beautiful both in and out of clothes (actually, we never got to see much other than her legs and shoulders).

Jerry O'Connell did a capable job. I'm not sure whether to call Jake Busey's performance good acting. Just because his father is a respected actor, that doesn't mean he is. But Kyle was definitely a class-A jerk. Or perhaps one could use a word Kyle used twice, which got its second half bleeped out for TV.

Bill Maher made a nasty but somewhat pleasant Carlos. David Ogden Stiers made the surgery his character was going to perform sound terrifying. Also worth mentioning: Garry Marshall's rant about why men shouldn't get married.

And last but not least among the notable acting performances: Heather Stephens as a librarian who lives with her Grammy (who was also a librarian) and has numerous stuffed animals in her bed.

My first thought about this movie was that it would compare with the 'American Pie' and 'Porky's' films. It wasn't quite that dirty once it really got into the main plot line. But much of the second half ... well, even edited I would say this film pushed the limits of what broadcast TV will allow. In fact, it may have even gone beyond them. Most of the bad language was taken out, apparently. A few words have only been said on network TV when there was a strong warning, or on the WB's 'Jack and Bobby'. But that's not the worst of it, even if you see this on TV the way I did.

Here are some samples of what made this such a hilarious but tasteless film:

-A prank involving a competitor for Viagra.

-An S & M scene, which was great even if it was crude.

-Steve suspects Trisha is a lesbian (this leads to several naughty gags).

-After one of the characters had surgery, something happened that made me laugh until there were tears.

-Cops who can't stop talking about their personal life on the job make a very unique bust (no, the other kind of bust) . At this point I have to say there is even violence in this movie, and not just the slapstick kind.

And one more gag, which was not dirty at all, involved a fur coat at a bachelor party. No, really, the humor with this gag was nearly G-rated, but it was a highlight.

Getting off the subject of what was funny, can they show that much of a woman's body on TV? She did have clothes on, but you could hardly call them clothes. And did we REALLY have to see that much of Jake Busey's posterior? That was underwear, I guess ...

You have been warned. I enjoy a guilty pleasure like this once in a while. But this is not for kids or the easily offended.

Firstly, I may well be slightly biased- because I really truly enjoyed this movie. However, seeing it with a score under 5- and then looking at the reviews, there is a notable trend. The good reviews are predominantly well punctuated and articulate, with such things as (gasp) accurate spelling and grammar. Conversely, most of the bad reviews tend to be short blurbs with not a capital letter to be found.

My take on this: Despite being a dumb comedy, Tomcats is to nuanced for the average consumer of dumb comedy. So, it's a smart-dumb comedy. The timing of jokes is impeccable, the pace is excellent, and the actual material is above average- with some of it even fresh! This leaves it in a bad place for reviews though- because it means a small segment of people love it, while big segments of the population (the pretentious smart and the uncultured dumb, we'll call them) will always pan this movie. So, if you're smarter than the average bear- but still appreciate dumb comedy romps, go for it- this one is a keeper.

I know "There's something about Mary" was much better as gross fun. But this one made me smile a lot, and actually laugh out loud two or three times. Not that tears were running from my eyes, but I was shaking with laughter at least once, so it was worth the while, all right. And, yes, now I guess I know what a nut looks like.

I went to see this movie in a fairly downcast mood and was looking for something to cheer me up. Tomcats certainly seemed to hit the spot.

There are days when I'm looking for some serious moviegoing or a great spectacle to watch & there are days when I just want to lean back & be entertained.

Tomcats fell into the latter category & left me with a smile on my face for the weekend.

It would be easy to criticise the film (as a lot of people have done) but much of this criticism seems unfair to me.

I'd say give it a try with a few friends - you might just be surprised!

Just seeing this film tonight, I have to say that I was very pleased with it. It made me laugh and happy to be with someone. The cast is great including Jerry O'Connel, Jake Busey, Shannon Elizabeth and Jamie Presely. The plot of this movie revoles around friends who make a bet when there young. The bet is the last man married gets a pot of money. It's now 2001 and Jerry O'Connel and Jake busey are the only ones who aren't married. O'Connel gets in trouble in Veags and has to pay a debt so he teams up with Shannon Elizabeth to marry off Kyle played by Jake Busey. The film is very funny but has one major flaw it lacks nudity. Go see it and have fun.