THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS
A film review by Robin Redcrest
Copyright 1996 USPAN
The URL of this review is: http://moviereviews.com/janesreviews/thetruthaboutcatsanddogs.html
Rating: 3 stars (out of 4)
I loved this movie for one reason - Janeane Garafalo. I haven't stayed up to watch her on Saturday Night Live, but ever since I saw her as the blind-date-from-hell in the otherwise silly "Bye Bye Love", I've been anxious to spend more time with her on-screen.
Garafalo starts in this adaptation of the ancient tale of Cyrano, as Dr. Abby Barnes, the host of a radio talk show about pets. She's supposedly a plain Jane, who, because of the intelligence and wit she displays on the radio, wins the heart (sight unseen) of a cute, sexy listener. Naturally, when he wants to meet her, she's too intimidated to show him what she really looks like, so she talks her blonde, willowy and very ditzy neighbor (Uma Thurman) into posing as her.
This premise might work, if Garafalo were truly plain, and Thurman were truly beautiful. But Garafalo is real, human and way too adorable to be overlooked, and Thurman is really just pretty messy.
But even if the contrast were greater, come on folks! In the 90s, it just doesn't ring true that physical beauty is automatically the only thing that brings two people together. I just saw "Jane Eyre" and watched William Hurt fall in love with the truly plain Charlotte Gainsburg over supermodel Elle MacPherson because, frankly, she was a much more interesting person. In this movie, Abby is so bright and funny and delightful, that a guy would have to be crazy not to want to spend time with her. And, Thurman is so ditzy and (allegedly) adorably disheveled that a guy might be tempted to take a second look, but after a very short time would have serious trouble sinking an intelligence depth finder. Zzzzzzzzz....
Garafalo's appeal defies description, because it's all based on how she reacts in the moment. She's like that hilariously funny best friend who can finish your sentences and make you laugh in that "you-had-to-be-there" way. See this movie and be there. It'll probably make you take a second look at that less-than-glamorous person in your life, who's presence you keep gravitating towards even though he or she is "not your type."
A review by Robin Redcrest of USPAN's Circle of Critics
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