'A Street Cat Named Bob' directed by Roger Spottiswoode tells the true story of James Bowen, a homeless recovering addict whose life changes significantly when he meets a street cat called Bob. This street cat is literally the catalyst for James to kick his addiction to the curb, get his act back together and start appreciating life as a whole.
The movie starts out presenting James at one of his worst moments, however quite early on Bob the cat is introduced. The relationship between James and Bob is quite charming at first, however the novelty of the fuzzy red haired cat quickly wears off. Halfway through it felt as if the writers had used up most of the tropes possible to make Bob seem interesting and it just recycles them from there on out. The story itself has a similar problem as it reuses certain story elements quite often. For the most part the movie just flows between feel-good moments with a few "hitting rock bottom"-moments in between. The dialogue between characters is also not that convincing and the many small jokes never achieve anything more than a minor chuckle.
Luke Treadaway as James Bowen is fairly well cast and is quite convincing in his role, however his acting performance did leave something to be desired for there are many moments where his acting felt off. The same is true for the rest of the cast and overall the acting side of things is not that solid. Furthermore Spottiswoode as a director is not very good. When actors are interacting with something off screen it is very clear they were not given any clear instructions. For example, Luke Treadaway never appears to be looking at anything specifically when his character James is supposedly chasing Bob through his apartment. Spottiswoode's directional style is also very bland, conversations are for the most part generically framed and the few shots from Bob's point of view fail to mix things up a bit.
Ultimately 'A Street Cat Named Bob' is not that interesting of a movie. It is not that well directed, the performances aren't all that great and the story is very predictable.
My rating: 4/10
The movie starts out presenting James at one of his worst moments, however quite early on Bob the cat is introduced. The relationship between James and Bob is quite charming at first, however the novelty of the fuzzy red haired cat quickly wears off. Halfway through it felt as if the writers had used up most of the tropes possible to make Bob seem interesting and it just recycles them from there on out. The story itself has a similar problem as it reuses certain story elements quite often. For the most part the movie just flows between feel-good moments with a few "hitting rock bottom"-moments in between. The dialogue between characters is also not that convincing and the many small jokes never achieve anything more than a minor chuckle.
Luke Treadaway as James Bowen is fairly well cast and is quite convincing in his role, however his acting performance did leave something to be desired for there are many moments where his acting felt off. The same is true for the rest of the cast and overall the acting side of things is not that solid. Furthermore Spottiswoode as a director is not very good. When actors are interacting with something off screen it is very clear they were not given any clear instructions. For example, Luke Treadaway never appears to be looking at anything specifically when his character James is supposedly chasing Bob through his apartment. Spottiswoode's directional style is also very bland, conversations are for the most part generically framed and the few shots from Bob's point of view fail to mix things up a bit.
Ultimately 'A Street Cat Named Bob' is not that interesting of a movie. It is not that well directed, the performances aren't all that great and the story is very predictable.
My rating: 4/10