Veteran director Roger Spottiswoode started his career editing for the legendary film-maker Sam Peckinpah on the likes of STRAW DOGS (1971). This controversial film caused outcry in the British Press, around the same time that the likes of Stanley Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) were defying and redefining what was or was not acceptable in film-making.
He then subsequently found work on a 1980 horror flick called TERROR TRAIN as director (a rip off of HALLOWEEN starring Jamie Lee Curtis again) and then was a co-writer on Walter Hill’s 48 HRS (1982), which introduced Eddie Murphy to the world. A year after that, he directed the acclaimed political drama UNDER FIRE (1983), starring Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy, chronicling the work and efforts of photojournalists working in 1979 Nicaragua. The film scored an Oscar nomination for Jerry Goldsmith’s score. He then followed this with DEADLY PURSUIT (AKA SHOOT TO KILL in the USA) (1988) with Sidney Poitier and Tom Berenger – and other films like 1997’s TOMORROW NEVER DIES, which featured Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.
When you consider his output like that, it is a surprise to find him helming such a cute, uplifting film like A STREET CAT NAMED BOB. Based on the hugely successful best-selling novels by James Bowen, A STREET CAT NAMED BOB and THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BOB, the incredible true story of how a drug addict found himself and his way again with the help of a ginger stray, this is going to be one of the films of the Winter season, heightened by the adorable feline lead in Bob, the cutest and most characterful ginger cat since Jones in the ALIEN films, ALIEN (1979) and – albeit briefly – ALIENS (1986).
James Bowen (Luke Treadway) is a recovering Heroin and Methadone addict, going through the motions in life, estranged from his father (Anthony Head), but somebody who busks in Covent Garden with his trusty guitar. With help from a drugs counsellor Val (Joanne Froggatt) , he is placed on a recovery programme with provisions to ensure that he turns up for meetings and pharmacy appointments. Val also secures him accommodation and it is here that he first meets a ginger cat, who has sneaked in through an open window. He has no success finding an owner, but meets a neighbour, Belle (Ruth Gedmintas), who calls him Bob and refers James to the local Animal Welfare Clinic for anti-biotics. Soon, James’ desire to survive is heightened when Bob becomes an essential companion in his journey to recovery….
You have won half the battle with audiences when you add an animal like a cat to the mix. It’s a neat trick that has worked on earlier man-and-pet offerings like TURNER & HOOCH with Tom Hanks and K-9 with James Belushi. The scenes involving the cat are competently handled and the dark world of homelessness and drug addiction are sensitively and honestly handled, though not to the extent that they were in Danny Boyle’s TRAINSPOTTING. Boyle’s film is a more extreme experience and does focus more on the logistical illogic of drug addiction and activity.
Happily, A STREET CAT NAMED BOB is a more positive experience and could go some way to inspiring addicts desperate to change their lives the way Bob in the film and books has done for Bowen, who has done pretty well out of the story. Treadway encapsulates Bowen’s situation and Joanne Froggatt (also currently being seen in the excellent indie drama STARFISH with Tom Riley) is very good as the drugs counsellor helping him to realize his goals. Anthony Head provides good support as Bowen’s father.
The real star of the film, of course, is Bob. You cannot help but fall in love with the moggy and I am sure that we haven’t seen the last of this adorable furball.
VerdictÂ
