The Cat's Meow [2002]

Another good one for Kirsten Dunst and an excellent portrail of a complex character by Izzard! Top marks!


yIym asking you to join me in an oath of silencey   January 13, 2005
Jennifer Litchfield (Auckland, New Zealand)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

The Cat's Meow offers an insight into what may (or may not) have occurred during a fateful pleasure cruise aboard media mogul William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924. One guest didn't survive the trip, and afterwards the other passengers only ever talked about what happened during those few days in riddles. The film is at pains to point out that it only depicts one possible version of events, which unfortunately does rather undermine the convincing storyline.

The story begins in Hollywood, "a land just off the coast of the planet earth", in that decadent decade dominated by the Charleston, flappers, and bootleg moonshine. The women's costumes are thus visually spectacular - all satin and feathers - but some of the actors seem to be overwhelmed by the splendour, and appear somewhat wooden as a result. The notable exception to this is Kirsten Dunst, who plays the effervescent Marion Davies, Hearst's mistress. However, the best lines in the film surely belong to the wonderfully cynical and sarcastic Joanna Lumley.

The thing the movie does capture to perfection is the double standards extant in Hollywood. One of the characters disdainfully dismisses the Prohibition, claiming that alcohol isn't illegal "for us". And that seems to pretty much sum up the attitude of the film fraternity at the time - that they are above rules and regulations. Even murder, it would seem, can be hushed up.

This isn't a murder mystery as such; anyone with a thorough knowledge of Hollywood history will know who died, and the whispers surrounding the event. But the average viewer may question if, after all this time, they really care what the truth is. Better instead to enjoy this film as a fiction.


Not quite the cat's whiskers   May 20, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

A very 'pretty' film, with lots of 1920s features - Charlestons, jazz, Prohibition, black musicians etc etc. And some truly outstanding performances: Kirsten Dunst's Marion (whose face expresses so many emotions) and the truly repellent - but right after the crime is committed surprisingly vulnerable - Hearst of Herrman. The hypocrisy that underlay so much of the 1920s, sent up by Grosz and Bertolt Brecht in the contemporary Weimar republic, is beautifully caught in this jewel of a movie. But there are flaws: Eddie Izzard, a genius in the field of stand-up comedy, is far too 'big' to be Chaplin (as the short provided as an extra demonstrates) and it was just as well that we were constantly reminded that he was Chaplin. And there was a tendency - common to many US actors - to mumble, forcing viewers to use subtitles. The truly excellent Joanna Lumley, as the iconic Elinor Glyn, shows how lines should be delivered.

Not quite the cat's whiskers, but an enjoyable film.


Brilliant Film!   June 24, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I LOVED it! I enjoyed watching great actors, a good plot, fabulous costume and attention to detail and witty script. Watch the charades scene between Dunst and Izzard (I was strangely enticed by that scene - good chemistry) and Joanna Lumley is brilliant as always. Although on a downside, it took me a while to get used to the amount of fake tan, Eddie Izzard was sporting. But yet still strangely attractive..........


This Film Is The Cat's........ Whiskers!   February 14, 2005
Angus Ferguson (Spalding, Lincolnshire)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This film is superb.
If you like tv programmes such as Agatha Christie's Poirot or films about the 1920s, then this is the film for you. It's classy, intelligent and so relaxing.
The film is basically about some famous people (including Charlie Chaplin) arriving at some friend's yaucht after receiving an invitation from him for a pleasure cruise.
The cruise seams to be going well, until a murder happens over a woman. The murder was intended for Charlie Chaplin, but instead the business associate of the murderer get's killed.
Immediately the cruise is called off.
I won't tell you how the story ends, because this is only the beginning. If you want to know how the story ends then I suggest that you buy the DVD, as the film will please you very much.

Storyline: 10/10
Charactors: 10/10
Cinematography ( didn't need much): 10/10
Entertainment Value: 10/10

P.S such an excellent film for such a small budget.