That Darn Cat (1997 film)

That Darn Cat!

Promotional poster
Directed by Bob Spiers
Produced by Robert Simonds
Screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Story by Gordon Gordon
Mildred Gordon
Bill Walsh (1965 screenplay)
Based on Undercover Cat 
by Gordon Gordon
Mildred Gordon
Starring Christina Ricci
Doug E. Doug
Dean Jones
Peter Boyle
Megan Cavanagh
Bess Armstrong
Michael McKean
John Ratzenberger
Dyan Cannon
Music by Richard Kendall Gibbs
Cinematography Jerzy Zielinski
Edited by Roger Barton
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
  • February 14, 1997

[1]

Running time
 86 minutes [2]
Country United States
Language English
Box office $18.3 million[3]

That Darn Cat is a 1997 mystery comedy film starring Christina Ricci and Doug E. Doug. It is a remake of the 1965 film That Darn Cat!, which in turn was based on the book Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon. It is directed by British TV veteran Bob Spiers (most famous for Fawlty Towers, as well as Spice World) and written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, best known for Ed Wood and the first two Problem Child films.

Plot

A cat has a watch around its neck, leading to a kidnapping investigation.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in three main locations: Edgefield, South Carolina; Augusta, Georgia and Aiken, South Carolina. Animal Makers created the animatronic version of the cat. It was filmed using a 35mm camera for both the coloured moving and black and white still pictures. The aspect ratio of the film was 1.85/1. The Title sequences were produced by Pacific Titles & Optical.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment distributed the video in most regions, while Abril Vídeo covered Brazil.

Reception

Box Office

The film earned $6,424,617 in its opening weekend and in total grossed $18,301,610 domestically.[4]

Critical

That Darn Cat received generally negative reviews, currently holding a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes amongst critics and 28% amongst audiences.[5] Stephen Holden of the New York Times was not impressed, remarking, 'The opening scenes in That Darn Cat suggest that the movie might have found a gently sarcastic attitude in tune with the know-it-all mood of the late 1990s... Unfortunately, it isn't long before this wised-up tone gives way to a desperate, mindless freneticism that leaves Ms. Ricci mired in her sulk.'[6]

Joe Leydon of Variety said 'It’s not quite a catastrophe, but the updated remake of “That Darn cat” is a loud and largely charmless trifle.'[7] James Berardinelli of Reelviews was a little more lenient, stating '(the film) is a little more quirky than many Disney films, although that trait doesn't make it appreciably more watchable.'[8]

Accolades

The film, in spite of the poor reception, earned Ricci two award nominations; the first was a Kids Choice Award for "Favorite Movie Actress" and the second was a Young Artist Award - "Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Actress".

References

  1. ↑ "That Darn Cat (1997) - Release dates". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. 2004-01-01. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  2. ↑ "THAT DARN CAT (U)". British Board of Film Classification. 1997-10-29. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  3. ↑ That Darn Cat at Box Office Mojo
  4. ↑ That Darn Cat (1997). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ The films Rotten Tomatoes page
  6. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE4D7173FF937A25751C0A961958260
  7. ↑ http://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/that-darn-cat-1200448709/
  8. ↑ http://www.reelviews.net/movies/t/that_darn.html

External links