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Movie Review - Garfield: The Movie
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Peter Hewitt |
| Starring: |
Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Bill Murray |
| Rated: |
PG (for brief mild language) |
| Length: |
86 minutes |
| Genre: |
Animation/Family |
| Website: |
Garfield |
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PLOT
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Garfield (the voice of Murray) is a fat, happy cat. Well, at least until his owner, Jon (Meyer), brings home
a dog - Odie. Garfield is jealous, but when Odie is kidnapped by a mean, money-driven dog trainer (Stephen
Tobolowsky), Garfield decides to put his selfishness aside and jump to the rescue. Animated hijinks ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Folks, let's be honest and realistic here. This is a kids' movie whose poster actually has the
phrase "It's All About Me-Ow" on it. Now tell me, what exactly would you expect from this?
Exactly, lots of bad cat puns ("I'm on the Catkins diet"), and a whole lot of childish humor. I'm
not exactly the drummer boy for this movie's target audience, and that's why I'm not gonna write a
scathing review of the film.
Would *I* pay to see this movie? Nope. But I don't have kids either. I do have a 9-year-old brother
though, and I took him to the screening with me, and he enjoyed it. From the sound of the childish laughter
in the audience I'd say the rest of the kids enjoyed it as well. You know why? Because it's a KIDS' MOVIE!
I love movies like "Toy Story" that are clever enough to appeal to both children and adults, but I understand
that not every animated movie is going to be like that. That's the way it goes. It's a little thing I like to
refer to as "life." Don't like it? Then don't spend money on it. When I was a kid I'm sure I would've loved
"Garfield: The Movie." After all, in 5th grade I had a Garfield poster in my room that read, "It's hard to be
humble when you're as great as I am." I thought it was so cool. Yes, I was a dork.
But that's not to say adults won't like it at all. I know there are plenty of adults who love cutesy stuff
and really bad puns. Just come to one of my family reunions, and I'll introduce you to some of 'em. Lines
such as, "I have tags, I just left them in my other fur," cause me to wince in pain, but there are people who
think stuff like that is absolutely adorable, and well, that's who this movie is for.
I never guffawed during the movie, but I admit that I chuckled and smiled a few times. Garfield dancing around
and singing is kind of cute and will get big laughs from its core audience.
And I should add that Bill Murray is a perfect choice as the voice of Garfield. He had some really cheesy
material to work with, but he did a good job of portraying Garfield as the egotistical,
the-world-revolves-around-me comic cat I remember him being.
Pick up the comics one day and read Garfield. Do you think it's funny? I did when I was little, but now?
Ah, not so much. But hey, I'm honest enough to accept it for what it is. I'll leave it to the kiddies, and
it won't hurt me one bit.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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There's actually one "d**n" thrown in there, but this is definitely kid-friendly.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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What you see is what you get. Honestly, if you watch the Garfield trailer and actually expect something
different than what you see in the movie, then you're weird.
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THE GIST
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"Garfield: The Movie" is OK. It's not what I would personally call a good movie (even though I did laugh a
few times), but this is mainly for the kids, and they will most likely enjoy it. Parents who love cutesy
fluff should enjoy it as well. It's quick, harmless, and kid-friendly. Oh, and if you're an adult who still
has Garfield posters on your wall, then I'm sure you'll enjoy the movie also, but I'm afraid that's probably the
least of your worries.
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