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DR. SEUSS' THE CAT IN THE HAT Send This Review to a Friend
The Dr. Seuss book "The Cat in the Hat" is a beautifully illustrated charmer that has enthralled children with its rhythmic prose and mischief. I read it to my children when they were young to their--and my--delight. What can be charming on the printed page can be quite another thing when pumped up for the big screen, especially when transferred as ham-handedly as this desecration.
All charm has been cast aside. The version, directed by Bo Welch, is loud, crass, garish and totally devoid of taste, and I'm leaving out other applicable adjectives. Mike Myers plays the Cat, as you surely know from having seen the ads depicting his heavily made-up cat-character, who comes on the scene when mom leaves her children home alone. His performance is so over-the-top as to be embarrassing, and you could say the same for Alec Baldwin in his role as the obnoxious next-door neighbor.
Spencer Breslin and Dakota Fanning are better as the children, but their adventures are awash in effects and all of the elements that can be assembled to make a film seem important but drown out everything that made the original so beloved. A Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures/Imagine Entertainment release.
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