Cats And Dogs

Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Jeff Goldblum	Professor Brody
Elizabeth Perkins	Mrs. Brody
Alexander Pollock	Scott Brody
Miriam Margolyes	Sophie
Myron Natwick (II)
Tobey Maguire	Lou
Myron Natwick	Mr. Mason
Alec Baldwin	Butch
Doris Chillcott	Mrs. Calvert
Sean Hayes	Mr. Tinkles
Susan Sarandon	Ivy

Director	Lawrence Guterman
Producer	Christopher DeFaria; Andrew Lazar
Writer	John Requa; Glenn Ficarra

How can you hate a movie that features ninja Siamese cats wreaking havoc with their kung fu prowess? Cats & Dogs is an effects-laden family film that mystifies cat fanciers by casting dogs as the undisputed heroes in all-out warfare with nefarious felines. Hidden headquarters and high-tech gadgets are featured on both sides of this age-old battle. On the feline side, the long-haired Persian Mr. Tinkles (voice of Sean Hayes) plots to sabotage the efforts of Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum) to discover a cure for human allergies to dogs. On the canine side, stalwart shepherd Butch (voice of Alec Baldwin) trains the mistakenly recruited beagle puppy Lou (voice of Tobey Maguire) to foil Mr. Tinkles's scheme--a mission that begins when Mrs. Brody (Elizabeth Perkins) adopts Lou for her son Scott (Alexander Pollock).

Using combinations of live animals, animatronic puppets and digital wizardry, Cats & Dogs has just enough imagination to match its effects, climaxing with a feline global-domination scheme involving mice sprayed with chemicals that will make all humans allergic to dogs. Goldblum and Perkins gamely play second fiddles to this menagerie of mayhem and, as madcap "realism" gives way to cartoonish fantasy, the movie escalates into utter chaos, burdened by lame jokes but highlighted by a furry supporting cast including a Saluki hound (voice of Susan Sarandon), a shaggy sheepdog (voice of Michael Clarke Duncan), and a Chinese hairless techno-geek named Peek (voice of Joe Pantoliano). Though never as charming as the Babe movies, Cats & Dogs is harmless fun--especially for dog lovers. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com