The Truth About Cats & Dogs

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The Truth About Cats & Dogs

The movie poster.
Directed by Michael Lehmann
Produced by Cari-Esta Albert
Written by Audrey Wells
Starring Uma Thurman
Janeane Garofalo
Ben Chaplin
Jamie Foxx
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Robert Brinkmann
Editing by Stephen Semel
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) April 26, 1996
Running time 97 min.
Language English
Budget Unknown
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Truth About Cats & Dogs is a 1996 American film, a romantic comedy starring Uma Thurman, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Chaplin, and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Audrey Wells. The original music score was composed by Howard Shore.

  • Tagline: Brian's about to discover the woman he loves isn't the woman he loves.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Even though it is set in modern times and genders have been reversed, the film's plot loosely follows the story of Cyrano de Bergerac. Abby Barnes (played by Garofalo) is a veterinarian, who hosts a Los Angeles radio show called "The Truth About Cats and Dogs." The use of this as the title of the film also suggests the combative nature of male-female romantic relationships. Abby strikes up an unexpected friendship with her neighbour Noelle Slusarsky (Thurman), a traditionally attractive model who is sweet but not very sharp. When Abby makes a blind date with a caller to her show (Chaplin), her insecurity with her own appearance leads her to convince Noelle to pretend to be Abby when meeting the date. Unfortunately both women develop feelings for the man leading to a comedic series of misunderstandings as their unintentional deception grows deeper.

Although the film was a decent commercial success, Garofalo was very unhappy about the film, calling it "anti-feminist" and virtually disowning it. Many have said that the film doesn't work since they consider Garofalo attractive in her own right.[citation needed]

Coincidentally, several years later Garofalo would become a radio talk show host for real (something she'd maintained for years in interviews that she wanted to do), as she co-hosted The Majority Report on Air America Radio. She left the show in 2006, citing differences with her co-host, Sam Seder.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Uma Thurman Noelle Slusarsky
Janeane Garafalo Abby Barnes
Ben Chaplin Brian
Jamie Foxx Ed
James McCaffrey Roy
Stanley DeSantis Mario
Mitch Rouse Bee Man
David Cross Male Radio Caller (voice)
Bookstore Man
Mary Lynn Rajskub Female Radio Caller (voice)
Bob Odenkirk Bookstore Man

[edit] See also

The Truth About Cats & Dogs (soundtrack)

[edit] External links

In other languages