A Cat in Paris (2010)

Director(s): Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol

Writer(s): Alain Gagnol, Jacques-Rémy Girerd

MPAA rating: PG

Runtime: 1h 4m

Format: Animation

Viewed with an English dub. It didn't even occur to me to watch it in French until it was already over.

STARRING (English cast)

Marcia Gay Harden, Angelica Huston, Steve Blum, JB Blanc, Matthew Modine

PREMISE

A little girl from a broken family gets into some big trouble, and it's up to a kind-hearted thief and the wandering cat who connects them to save her. But can her family be saved, too?

THEMES

The cat is, metaphorically speaking, the spirit of the little girl, and therefore the spirit of the little girl is wandering and looking for things to bring home and make her happy.

Wounds need closure of some kind if any good healing is to ever occur. It's not enough to just go on living. Time is always a factor in the good healing of wounds, but not the only one. (The movie didn't get that complex about this theme, but I felt it was implied.)

A person might not be a very good parent, but that doesn't mean they're not trying hard to be one.

Bad people are stupid? (That's probably not a deliberate theme but kids might walk away with that.)

LIKES

Good themes, except maybe for that last one.

The artistry was beautiful. French and Japanese filmmakers consistently have an eye for aesthetics while Americans just go for the soulless wow-factor with their visuals. [sigh] I'll take visuals like this over Frozen any day.

I enjoyed seeing a movie for kids that didn't come across as ADHD. These guys weren't following Hollywood's example, thank God.

It was a movie from France but there was nothing sumptuously sexual in it. It's nice to see that they at least don't put that stuff in their movies for kids.

DISLIKES

The comedic nature of the bad guys kinda fell flat for me, but it probably wouldn't for kids.

Thievery is once again glamorized by storytelling. But at least it wasn't too strong in this particular story.

The bad guys in the movie are basically referred to as garbage by the good guys. I never dig that. Yeshua died for us all, because we all deserve to die. That doesn't mean we tolerate crime, but it does mean we reject hatred.

At the risk of being spoiler-ish, I have to say that the movie ended a little too neatly for my tastes. But I can understand why people would enjoy seeing it end that way.

S-L-V CONTENT

Nothing in the way of sex or profanity, though some parents might not feel comfortable with the presence of a giant (but undetailed) penis on a huge, reoccurring statue. But there was nothing sexual or even humorous about it. It was just the sort of thing you'd really see on a statue like that.

The violence is very PG, but some parents might not like the main bad guy shooting a gun a lot in anger, even trying to kill animals and bugs with it.

ROB'S FINAL OPINION

3 out of 4 stars - I liked it.

The "likes" have won me over here. I enjoyed the art.