The Cat in the Hat

Cast: Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston and Spencer Breslin.

Director: Bo Welch

Running Time: 1hr 21 minutes

Release Date: 2003

Genre: Family

Rating: PG

Format: Amazon Prime UK

Synopsis:

Two bored children Sally and Conrad have their lives turned upside down when a giant talking cat comes to visit them. 

Dr Seuss is an author I wasn't honestly that familiar with as a child. I'd never read "Green eggs and ham" or "The Cat in the Hat", in school. So, as you can imagine, I was more than intrigued when I came across this as a teenager, especially as I was a massive fan of Mike Myers. This is one of those films that is perfect for snuggling up on the sofa on a rainy day with. Preferably a bar of chocolate in hand too. Despite the title, the film is actually based on the book "The Cat in the Hat comes back", do you know what I honestly love the most about film adaptations of Dr Seuss books? They are magnificently colourful and full of imagination. Eccentric and absurd. During an afternoon of boredom, siblings Conrad (Breslin) and Sally (Fanning) find themselves in the arms of Cat (Myers), where together they embark on a terrific adventure of magic and mayhem.

The film is magnificently over the top and very tongue in cheek. Mike Myers stars as the flamboyant black and white cat. Myers is absolutely marvellous in his role, he really does steal the show. his use of characterisation and humour is excellent. It's unfortunate that actress Kelly Preston, delivers one her worst performances as Mom, her role is going to be over the top naturally due to the nature of the film, however she offers next to no characterisation and sadly only has about five minutes of screen time. Every great family film has a bad guy, Alec Baldwin stars as Lawrence, a pompous and grouchy man who has the hearts for Sally and Conrad's mom. The children however are not convinced and learn that he would rather send them both off to military academy. Baldwin too, delivers a good performance, he's certainly good at playing the bad guy, it's a shame he doesn't have more screen time too.

Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin are superb as Sally and Conrad. Both work beautifully together as brother and sister. Dakota Fanning is beautifully sweet and innocent as Sally. The deliverance of their terrific performances are what really make this a fantastic family film. Despite being a family film, it came as quite a surprise to see how many adult innuendos have actually been used throughout the course of the film. The idea is that obviously children wouldn't understand these jokes, however even from an adult's perspective it can be exceptionally uncomfortable at times. Dr Seuss's books are wonderfully eccentric and bright, however there's no need to turn a fantastic children's book rude. The humour for the most part, is very adult based. Director Bo Welch certainly took a fair share of risks when he made this film. Some of which work and some of which definitely do not.

The beauty of this film is that it is terrifically colourful. There are so many different things to look at in each and every scene. It's like walking through a brilliant visionary fun house of colour and imagination. Despite all of the uncomfortable adult innuendos, the film does have good morals behind it. Teaching children the importance of finding the perfect balance between fun and discipline. The special effects are excellent. Mike Myers delivers a great performance, children of all ages will find themselves wanting to get lost in the world of Dr Seuss's "The Cat in the Hat", the soundtrack just adds to the magic of the film with hit songs like Smash Mouth's "Hang on" and "Getting better",it really adds to the fun and colourfulness of the story.

3/5 stars