| Product: |
Garfield The Movie (DVD) |
| Date: |
03/07/05 (202 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Mildly entertaining family movie
Disadvantages: Could have been * SO * much better !
~ ~ Friday evening after a hard week’s toil in the old “joe maxi” (taxi) and not too much of note on the old telly. So it’s a quick visit to the local video shop, €15 over the counter, and I’m off home to watch “Garfield” (2004), the famous (infamous?) cartoon cat who has graced the funny pages in worldwide newspapers for generations, in his very first venture onto the silver screen.
~ ~ I loved the Garfield comic strip when I was a nipper. (Come to think of it, I still do) Garfield, his incredibly stupid and gormless companion Odie the dog, and their owner Jon Arbuckle, were the cause of many a chuckle and outright guffaw from the mad cabbie. In fact, I used to have a number of compendium albums that were a much-favoured gift at Christmas time. So I was looking forward immensely to watching Garfield in actual action, so to speak.
~ ~ So did the computer generated image of Garfield live up to my expectations, and was he as funny as his cartoon counterpart? Well yeah, I have to admit that the movie raised quite a few laughs from myself and the family, but I also have to admit to being just a little disappointed at the same time. First off, Garfield is not wholly a cartoon. The only cartoon character is Garfield himself, whose voice-over is supplied by the brilliant comedy actor Bill Murray (Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, etc, etc) who seemingly agreed to the part mostly because he was always a huge fan of Garfield himself. Director Peter Hewitt got this part right at least, as Murray gets the voice of Garfield down pat.
My biggest crib however is that Garfield is the *ONLY* animal in the movie that is computer generated. Odie the dog is a real dog whose main claim to fame seems to be that he can get up on his hind legs and boogie. (Dance) Clever and cute as this may be (and it is) it doesn’t make up for the fact that no real canine could successfully play the part of Odie, with his huge range of expressions and his stupid antics.
Likewise, Garfield’s pal Nermal (another cat) is, for some strange reason, a real cat, and what’s more absolutely nothing at all like the cartoon character. In fact, ALL the other animals in the film are the real thing, with the exception of a wee mouse buddy of Garfields and his rat chums. (Who constantly want to eat Garfield!)
~ ~ Oh, I forgot to mention the plot. But there again, there’s not too much to mention, as it’s purely a vehicle for Garfield and his animal buddies to strut their stuff. Jon Arbuckle, well played by actor Breckin Meyer, (Rat Race, Road Trip, etc) acquires a new dog (the aforementioned Odie) from vet Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt) who, naturally, he fancies the pants off. Garfield gets jealous, kicks the dog out, and Odie runs off only to be kidnapped by the villian of the piece, a TV adman called Happy Chapman. (Stephen Tobolowsky) Garfield and his various furry and hairy friends take up chase to rescue Odie closely pursued by Jon and Liz. End of plot!
This would be yet another little (or maybe not so little) crib I would have about the movie. Were the producers running out of cash and had to make do with a bunch of second rate and unimaginative scriptwriters instead of employing the real thing? The whole plot is banal and stupid in the extreme, and is like something a nine-year-old would write as a school essay. Come to think of it, most nine-year-olds could probably write a better plot than this anyways! The only redeeming feature of the script is the attitude and dialogue of Garfield himself, which the screenwriters appear to have captured very well, although I would suspect that actor Bill Murray probably had quite a lot of personal imput.
Jon Arbuckle’s character is woefully underdeveloped, and Jennifer Love Hewitt has little to do except add some eye candy for the daddy’s dragged along to the cinema by the little uns.
~ ~ Not much in the way of DVD extras. The usual commentary track from the director and producer, a few deleted scenes, a boring promo for a couple of upcoming new features, a music video from the movie (not too bad) and an interview and sketching session with the Garfield creator, artist Jim Davis. (Which WAS fairly interesting)
I bought Garfield on DVD (secondhand, ex-rental) from the local video shop for €15 back in late January 2005. (I’ve more or less given up renting out DVD’s, preferring to buy them outright) When checking the price on Amazon I note that there is currently a two-disc special edition on release for £9.97, which may have more in the way of DVD extras than the one-disc version I own, which is currently on offer at £6.97. As always, it pays to shop around if you’re thinking of buying this movie.
~ ~ Overall, Garfield is a mildly entertaining family feature, which is good for passing away a couple of hours when there’s nothing much better on the box. Which in my opinion is a GREAT pity, as the theme had potential, and with better production and direction could have been a smash hit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
© KenJ 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary: Overall a big disapointment. Had the potential to be a smash hit if properly directed.
|
|
