THAT DARN CAT

"THAT DARN CAT"
(1997) (Christina Ricci, Doug E. Doug) (PG)

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

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

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
*Minor	Minor	Minor	Minor	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: A teenager and an F.B.I. agent trail a cat that they believe has located a kidnaped woman.

PLOT:: Sixteen-year-old Patti Randall (CHRISTINA RICCI) thinks her small town of Edgefield, Mass. is the most boring place on Earth. When the maid to a wealthy businessman, Mr. Flint (DEAN JONES), is kidnaped, however, events are set into motion that will wake up the sleepy town. Patti's cat, D.C., happens to find the maid and returns with a vital piece of evidence. No one believes that a cat could find a hostage, but Patti manages to convince the F.B.I. to have an agent check things out. Zeke Kelso (DOUG E. DOUG), an inexperienced but eager agent, is assigned to the case and helps Patti trail D.C., hoping that he’ll lead them to the hostage.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they think it will be like the recent live action version of "101 Dalmatians" or are fans of Ricci, they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For mild thematic elements.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: CHRISTINA RICCI plays a teenager who's in a perpetual bad mood and states that the only thing she likes is her cat.
DOUG E. DOUG plays a caricature of an F.B.I. agent, and is a willing, but bumbling young man.; DOUG E. DOUG plays a caricature of an F.B.I. agent, and is a willing, but bumbling young man.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 2 out of 10: Disney raids its archives once again with this remake of the 1965 film that also starred Dean Jones (as Zeke Kelso). While the original was a mildly entertaining film, it isn't a Disney "classic" and seems to be an odd choice for updating. More surprising is that, unlike the other recent Disney update, "101 Dalmatians," this picture lacks fun and contains far fewer animal scenes. Instead, it focuses on the "zany" small town characters and leaves kids to get thoroughly restless while watching this lame movie. The adults are either idiots or goof balls and certainly don’t provide kids with any good role models. While other films have their share of those characters (for example, the bad guys in "Home Alone"), everyone in this film is portrayed that way. Ricci does nothing but brood the whole time and there’s no motivation for her to get involved in the hostage story. Subplots (two bickering and competing auto mechanics, and a butcher who’s in love with a security agent) go nowhere, aren’t remotely funny, and will bore kids out of their minds. Worse yet, the ending turns into a scene right out of the old Burt Reynolds’ "Smokey and the Bandit" movies with a long (and boring) car chase that includes several slow motion scenes of a Trans-Am flying through the air and lots of property damage. This is case where the "leave well enough alone" axiom should have been followed. We give this film a minimal 2 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: There’s not a great deal to object in this film, but that doesn’t mean it’s great for kids. All of the adults are portrayed as idiots, imbeciles, or goof balls and Christina Ricci’s character is in a perpetual bad mood throughout the film. The one nice touch is that there are no menacing villains as in most other kids films and the kidnapers turn out to be two older folks. Guns are aimed at people here and there and at times are accidentally fired, but it’s the ending that’s filled with mayhem. A car chase leads to many people nearly getting run over, and a great deal of property damage to other cars, a gazebo and a building. Profanity is pretty much limited to the use of the word "hell." While that word isn’t that bad (compared to others that kids can pick up), a three-year-old boy next to me in the screening heard the word enough times that he was repeating it throughout the movie. Children of all ages will get very restless during this film and thus you should consider that, and any material that appears below, before allowing your children to see this film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Two competing auto mechanics celebrate joining forces with glasses of champagne.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Obviously, the kidnapers have both.
Patti has a bad attitude toward her town, her school, and her parents that continues throughout the movie. She even admits that the only thing she likes is her cat.
One of the auto mechanics says that the other "swings (throws punches) like a girl."

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Two mysterious looking figures in hockey masks lurk outside a house. Once inside, they turn off the kitchen light and abduct a maid and drag her screaming from the house.
An F.B.I. agent screams "Get him off me!" as a bulldog "attacks" him. Little kids who are scared of dogs might be upset by this, but it’s played for laughs instead of as a real dog attack.
The kidnapers show up, surprising Kelso and Patti as they try to free the hostage.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns: Carried (and occasionally aimed) by the local security cops and some F.B.I. agents. At one point the agents aim their guns at Patti’s dad as he tries to pick up D.C.
An F.B.I. agent says he’s going to shoot a bulldog that’s after him, but he doesn’t.
An F.B.I. agent falls down some stairs and his gun goes off as he rolls down to the ground.
Shotgun: Aimed at Kelso and then held on the hostage by a kidnaper.
A security guard shoots his gun through his back window at the kidnapers as they drive by.
The security guards shoot their guns that cause a sign to fall onto the kidnapers’ heads.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "She’s an ugly old broad, isn’t she?" "Sucks," "Dufus," "Idiots," "Bust my butt," "Nuts," "Do you want a fat lip?" and "Suckers."
Patti skips school in one scene.
An auto mechanic pours maple syrup into the other mechanic’s gas tank.
Disillusioned with her life, Patti buys a one-way ticket to New York, but doesn’t end up going.
One auto mechanic pours gasoline inside the other’s uniform (while he's wearing it).

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There’s just a minor amount in a few scenes.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 5 uses of hell, 1 incomplete "Pain in the . . . " and 4 uses of "Oh my God," and 1 use each of "Dear Lord" and "God" as exclamations.
The maid tries to write the word "help" on the back of her watch but only has time to write "hell" (the "p" not being complete) and that’s the source of most of the above "hells." In addition, Patti tries to get her mother to say that word so that she’ll have cursed one time in her life.

SEX/NUDITY: An agent reports that the female butcher "just delivered some meat to some guys." Another man tells him that a young lady (Patti) is in the room, and the agent explains that the butcher really was delivering (butchered) meat.

SMOKING: Patti’s dad smokes a cigar, but his wife makes him walk home instead of riding in the car.
A man in a limo smokes a cigar.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Patti’s mom is upset after her husband doesn’t return home at night (he was with the F.B.I. agents) and for a moment or two it looks like they’ll get into a fight, but it soon passes.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: That adults aren’t like those portrayed in this film.

VIOLENCE: There are some slapstick injuries including: A man falls over a fence, an agent falls down the stairs with his gun going off, an agent falls through some steps to the ground below, some people slip and fall onto the ground, another bangs his head, and a dog gets hit on the head by a loose fence plank.
Two competing auto mechanics exchange damaging the others' property: One punctures the hood of a car with a pick, the other stabs a knife through a car’s convertible roof, and the other flattens a tire with an ax.
One auto mechanic pours gasoline inside the other’s uniform.
There’s a great deal of damage done to other cars and to property as Kelso and Patti (in a truck) chase the kidnapers (in a Trans-Am).
The two auto mechanics shoot paint balls back and forth at each other.
A discarded match ignites gasoline that burns and then causes two gas stations to explode.
The security guards shoot their guns that cause a sign to fall onto the kidnapers’ heads.

Reviewed February 8, 1997

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