The Cat in the Hat

Starring: Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning, Spenser Breslin, Kelly Preston, Alec Baldwin
Directed by: Bo Welch
Rating: PG
Genre: Children's, Comedy
Box Office: $101,149,285
2003

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a mother (Kelly Preston) leaves her two children (Spenser Breslin, Dakota Fanning) home with a babysitter, a strange cat (Mike Myers) arrives and takes them on an adventure which results in the destruction of their house. Along the way, they try to avoid mom's sleazy boyfriend (Alec Baldwin) in their pursuit of fun. Based on the book by Dr. Seuss.

Review:

Tim: I was actually pretty excited about the big screen adaptation of the beloved Dr. Seuss book. The Grinch was surprisingly good, and with Mike Myers as the Cat, I thought this film would be another smashing success. As so often happens in the world of movies, I was wrong.

Mike Myers does make a great Cat in the Hat, and casting Dakota Fanning as one of the children was brilliant. Unfortunately, thats about the end of the good qualities of the film. Kelly Preston isn't bad, but Alec Baldwin.... ugh. He is so ridiculous in this movie. He's not even funny-ridiculous. He is painful to watch, where-is-his-career-going painful to watch.

Besides the cast, which is decent enough, the film is so colorful and moves at such a quick pace that I'm surprised more people didn't slip into an epilepic fit while watching this film. There is just too much going on at too quick of a pace to be enjoyed by anyone but the smallest of children.

Perhaps the worst aspect of the film is the attempt to throw in "adult humor" so that the movie will reach a larger demographic. This can and has been done before, with films like Finding Nemo and Shrek. However, here it is just pathetic. I believe the lowlight of the movie is when Mike Myers refers to a garden tool as a "dirty hoe." That right there sums up the lack of class and intelligence surrounding this movie. There were a few good adult-oriented jokes, but the previously mentioned one just ruined the experience for me.

All in all, I suppose The Cat in the Hat is good enough so that kids will like it (but they also don't know any better). Other than that, though, just read the book.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Grinch, Shrek, Shrek 2, Finding Nemo