The Cat's Meow (2001) Reviews

"The Cat's Meow" is a very good movie but the stand out performance has to be Eddie Izzard's portrayal of Charlie Chaplan! He's magnificent! I enjoyed seeing portrayals of 1920's personalities that have only been names to me before. The acting is great, the insight into how people lived back there is interesting, and the possible cause of Mr. Ince's death makes you think. I loved this movie.
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I think I went into this movie expecting a lot, and found myself at the end a little disappointed, although I struggle to say exactly why. Being mostly confined to the ship seems to undermine any attempt to say some Gatsbyesque about the rich and the lives they lead. I liked all the performances with a nice centralizing turn by "Ab Fab's" Joanna Lumley who gives the picture a bit of a moral center, albeit in a cliched world-weary-writer role. With the confined but extravagant sets, I an imagine this being a real experience as live theater,though and look forward to an opportunity to see it that way.
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I rented this one knowing a little about the story - years ago william randolph hearst (then one of the richest and most powerful media moguls in the country) shot and killed a man onboard his yacht -- and never went to jail or court for it. Hollywood legend has it that he was really mad at charlie chaplin who he believed was sleeping with his mistress and who was onboard that fateful weekend. peter bogdonavich directed and he can't keep sex and sexual innuendoes out of the script. definitely not for children or teens even if it is rated PG-13. (also contains drug use, profanity and alcohol abuse) kirsten dunst is the only really good actor in this one. it seemed self-indulgent to me; hollywood folks wanting to act out a drama about hollywood folks. yuck . . .
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