| Conrad
and Sally Walden (Spencer Breslin and Dakot Fanning) are home
alone with their pet fish. It is raining outside, and there is
nothing to do. Until The Cat in the Hat (Mike Myers) walks in
the front door. He introduces them to their imagination, and
at first it's all fun and games, until things get out of hand,
and The Cat must go, go, go, before their parents get back. [TRAILER]
STEVEN
SNYDER'S REVIEW
The kids are still here,
Talking fish and a cat,
But where is the innocence
Beneath the tall red hat?
Dr. Seuss wrote of daydreams,
Of imaginations, of cheer,
But that is not profitable;
Hollywood thinks it won’t sell here
So gone is the simple,
The sweet and the cute;
In its place a chaotic and noisy mess,
With no remote to mute
Where there was affection
And wit with a bite,
Now is the ordinary,
The mediocre, the trite.
There is a fundamental flaw to “Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In The Hat.” Without
even touching upon performances, production design, editing or directing, I
can cite its problem from a most elementary overview of the script.
The original Dr. Seuss text, written in 1975, was not about the title character.
In all of the author’s work, it is not about the creatures who dominate
the pictures and covers. His target was children, and he wrote for them. He
wanted to create characters kids could relate to, and then develop a story
through their eyes that conveyed some moral or message.
“The Cat In The Hat” the book is NOT about the cat. It is about two
kids who are bored, wish for some excitement in their life, and then regret their
wish once things get out hand. In some sense, it shows kids what it is like to
be a parent for a day, with a disobedient child tearing apart the house.
Then why, may I ask, did the woefully arrogant team of producer Brian Grazer
and first-time director Bo Welch think that they could change the spin of the
story? With “How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” there was enough
story to keep Grazer in check. In “Cat,” he has no formula to copy
or cling to.
“Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In The Hat” starts as a story about Mom
(Kelly Preston), a single parent, who needs to throw the perfect dinner party
to please her employer. While away at work, her son Conrad (Spencer Breslin)
and daughter Sally (Dakota Fanning) are left home with a sleeping Asian babysitter
for the better part of a day. They are told not to mess up the house and all
is well until, as we all know, the Cat (Mike Myers) arrives to create some havoc.
But as soon as Myers enters the picture, really bringing nothing to the role
other than a voice identical to his Linda Richman character on “Saturday
Night Live” and his perfect comic timing, the story’s essence is
gone. It rapidly deteriorates into an extended SNL skit, spending fifty random
minutes wandering through the house, ten minutes on a trip outside to retrieve
the family dog, and then a quick 20-minute wrap-up back at the messy house.
While the set designs are impressive, and SOME of Myer’s bits funny,
what’s missing is the human element. Essentially, there is no one worth
caring about at all in this film. The kids are relegated to gawking observers,
and this is not a story about them, but rather an awkward, random assemblage
of sight gags and bits filled with humor that will go over the heads of most
kids. I mean, seriously, does a five year-old understand a skit about infomercials?
Grazer and Welch have taken one of my all-time favorite childhood books and
made a rambling mockery of it. I am not only disappointed, but horrified that
Dr. Seuss’ vision will have to exist alongside this train-wreck of a
film, which bears his name. If chains such as Blockbuster or Hollywood Video
wanted to make a name for themselves, they would exclude this hiccup from their
libraries. Kids across America would be better for it.
But, trust me, those stores will sell this movie. There is too much money involved;
too much cache in the innocent title that allowed this disappointing farce
to swindle $40 million from moviegoers last weekend.
They missed the point
But stole the name,
The real question today
Is who to blame?
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