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Garfield: The Movie

2004, Movie, PG, 86 mins

Garfield: The Movie: Review

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Adapted from Jim Davis's popular syndicated comic strip, this predictable comedy would like to be irresistible catnip to kids and their parents; instead, it's a catnap in movie form. Lazy, cranky, wise-cracking Garfield (voiced by the droll Bill Murray) has everything a fat cat could want: A cushy bed, the run of the house, control of the TV and the undying affection of his owner, Jon (Breckin Meyer), who caters to Garfield's every whim. Better still, the lasagna-loving feline rules the neighborhood cul de sac, teasing tough-guy Doberman Luca (Brad Garrett) and convincing the adorable but naive Nermal (David Eigenberg) to unwittingly help him steal fresh milk. But Garfield's world is turned upside-down when perky, cute-as-a-button veterinarian Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt) asks Jon to take home a stray puppy named Odie. Unable to refuse the woman on whom he's nursed a long-time crush, Jon agrees and quickly bonds with the eager-to-please pooch. Garfield, naturally, takes an instant dislike to the not-so-bright interloper and feels especially neglected when Jon and Liz decide to take Odie to a dog show. Garfield decides to break his own rule against leaving his home turf and stows away, causing the predictable stir and inadvertently allows Odie to take home top prize for his hind-legs dancing skills. Garfield devises a new plot to get Odie out of his fur, but his machinations get Odie dog-napped by ne'er-do-well local television personality Happy Chapman (Stephen Tobolowsky). Even the supremely self-centered Garfield feels a bit guilty about that turn of events and decides to rescue Odie. On the asset side, this blandly forgettable film features a few laughs, a well-chosen voice cast and Meyer's agreeable performance as perennial loser Jon. Its liabilities include intense derivativeness — in particular, Odie's rescue is shockingly similar to the retrieval-of-Woody sequence in TOY STORY 2 (1999) — and the cynical deployment of Hewitt in a role that consists mostly of teetering around in high heels while wearing super-short dresses, the better to induce dirty-minded dads to accompany their kids to the movies. But the biggest minus is the infelicitous juxtaposition of the computer-generated Garfield and the flesh-and-fur animals with animated mouth movements (à la 1995's BABE) who make up the rest of the four-legged cast. The CGI is well-done, but Garfield's presence among the otherwise live cast is a constant distraction. leave a comment --Angel Cohn
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