THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	None	Mild	None	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	None	None	Mild	Moderate

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Mild	None	Minor	Minor

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: A woman who sees herself as unattractive, gets her attractive neighbor to act as her in order to impress a man she's interested in.

PLOT:: Abby Barnes (JANEANE GAROFALO) plays Abby Barnes, a radio talk show host/veterinarian. She gets asked out by Brian (BEN CHAPLIN), a caller who's having a problem with a dog. However, she doesn't think she's attractive enough, so she gets her beautiful neighbor, Noelle (UMA THURMAN) to "be" her. The mistaken identity plot continues through as Brian falls in love with "Abby" (Noelle) while the real Abby pines away for the man who should be hers.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Maybe, especially if they like light comedic romances, but this one won't draw the younger crowd.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: On appeal for a sex-related scene and brief strong language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: JANEANE GAROFALO plays a woman with low self esteem about her looks who gets another woman to impersonate her.
UMA THURMAN plays a kind of flighty character without much depth.
BEN CHAPLIN plays the poor soul caught up in this mistaken identity plot who claims he loves "Abby" for what's inside and not for what she looks like.; UMA THURMAN plays a kind of flighty character without much depth.
BEN CHAPLIN plays the poor soul caught up in this mistaken identity plot who claims he loves "Abby" for what's inside and not for what she looks like.; BEN CHAPLIN plays the poor soul caught up in this mistaken identity plot who claims he loves "Abby" for what's inside and not for what she looks like.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: A drunken boyfriend of Noelle's carries a bottle of champagne.
Brian drinks a beer in a bar. Then Abby and Noelle order a cocktail and a beer.
Abby, Noelle, and Brian drink heavily (shots of liquor and beer) in a long scene where the women are trying to get Brian drunk to see whom he likes better. They all end up rather drunk.
Brian and a friend drink beers.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Noelle's boyfriend treats her badly. He tells her to shut up, says she's fat and then calls her a "stupid bitch," and Abby an "ugly stupid bitch."
Brian drives Noelle (thinking she's Abby) to her radio station, and since they're late, he runs through several red lights and stop signs without stopping.
Believing that Noelle and Brian have slept together the night before, Abby has a bad attitude toward a caller on the phone.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "stupid bitch," "shut up."
Brian drives Noelle (thinking she's Abby) to her radio station, and since they're late, he runs through several red lights and stop signs without stopping.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): A romance song includes the phrase "I want to make love to you."
Another romance song has the phrase "making love to you."

PROFANITY: 1 "f" word (used in a sexual way), 4 "s" words, 3 asses, 9 uses of the word "bitch."

SEX/NUDITY: Noelle wonders how Abby has gone three years without sex,. Abby responds that it's the electronic age (implying that she uses such devices). Noelle then says cats have sex more often than that.
As Abby complains that men don't chase after her, Noelle (implying if she was a man) says, "I'd f*ck you."
Abby says to Noelle, "I'm the voice and you're the body." A clerk then responds, "And what a body!"
Two romance songs include the phrases "I want to make love to you," and "making love to you."
Abby and Brian have a phone sex conversation where they both end up masturbating. There are no dirty words, just suggestive dialogue such as when Abby asks where Brian's hand is. Nothing is actually seen, other than them squirming and climaxing under their respective sheets ).
Noelle's boyfriend is seen in her bed.
It's implied that Noelle spends the night with Brian, but she later calls Abby and tells her that although they started kissing and wrestling around, she did not sleep with him.
Referring back to their phone sex encounter, Abby jokingly tells Brian that she's pregnant. He responds "Are you sure it was me?" and she finishes with "I don't know -- I made a lot of calls that night."
Brian and Abby get into some heavy French kissing.

SMOKING: Noelle smokes cigarettes several times throughout the movie.
Brian smokes a cigar.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Judging a book by its cover -- ie. Looks versus personality.
Phone sex and what they were doing under their own sheets.

VIOLENCE: Abby threatens Noelle's boyfriend with her violin bow, which the boyfriend then grabs and breaks.
When asked what's wrong, Abby sarcastically responds, "Nothing that a rooftop and an AK-47 wouldn't take care of."

Reviewed April 28, 1996

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