Starring Christina Ricci, Doug E. Doug, Dean Jones, Peter Boyle, Michael McKean, George Dzundza, Bess Armstrong, Dyan Cannon. Mark Christopher Lawrence, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Parsons, Rebecca Schull, Tom Wilson, Brian Haley

(5-Okay Film)

Charming. Intriguing. Underdeveloped.

With its charming host of characters, quaint setting, and nostalgic score, That Darn Cat had the potential to be much better. Christina Ricci plays Patti, an antisocial teenager stuck in a small town in New England where, in her view, nothing ever happens. When her cat, D.C, comes home one morning with a watch that may or may not have “HELP” written onto it, Patti connects it to a nearby kidnapping and goes into sleuth mode. Doug E. Doug plays an FBI agent looking to cut his teeth. I enjoyed much of That Darn Cat but the mystery really falls flat by the end. The solution is completely obvious and should have been taken more seriously. The last twenty minutes dissolves into an uninteresting car chase.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(888)