“Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties” (20th Century Fox)
Twin Cats Don’t Add Up To Double the Fun
Garfield is back on the screen in the sequel to the first “Garfield” movie. This time out he is starring in “Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties,” a takeoff on the Mark Twain classic THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER. It is a story about mistaken identity and features Garfield, Odie, Liz and Jon.
Garfield lives with his owner Jon (Breckin Meyer) and a dog named Odie. Garfield’s life is one of rest and eating – preferably lasagna. Jon is in the middle of a romance with Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and plans to propose to her. However when they get together she is full of news about an upcoming trip to London to attend a Veterinary Convention.
So off Liz goes to London and Jon, and the animals, soon follow. In London there is another cat, named Prince, who looks exactly like Garfield. Prince lives on an estate he has inherited from his owner. Lord Dargis (Billy Connolly) thought he was going to inherit everything but it went to the cat. Now he is determined to get rid of Prince and take it all.
Of course Garfield and the Prince switch places, and Garfield makes it his mission to outwit Dargis. With the help of some other animals at the estate the animals triumph over the humans and all is well.
This is the movie and it is sweet and cute and moderately entertaining. It helps a lot to have Bill Murray providing the voice for Garfield, and Tim Curry providing the voice for Prince. But it hurts a lot that Meyer and Hewitt make Jon and Liz such bland people. Plus it must have taken a real effort to make Hewitt look as bad as she does. Connolly does seem to have a great time being the villain, and he is fun to watch.
The problem with the film is that it is nothing special. You know exactly what is going to happen in the plot from the very start. There are no surprises anywhere in the script. And though Garfield is funny, he is basically a one-joke character – fat and sassy.
The film is rated PG for some adult humor.
The kids should be entertained by this movie but the adults who go along with them will find themselves checking out their watches. The movie is cute but the cuteness wears thin about halfway through.
I scored “Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties” a catty 5 out of 10.
