by Linda Kay

Original Title: Chong ai

Starring: Rizzo, Gonzo, Leon, Belle, Snow

Directed by: Larry Yang

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: An all-star cast heads up this Chinese holiday film about a group of people loosely connected through a veterinarian’s office and their varied pets whose love brings them relationships and even heartbreak.

Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): The stories in the film follow the owners of several different animals including some dogs and a pig. Two of the stories are centered around cats. The first is about a divorced father, Gao Ming (Hewei Yu) and his somewhat strained relationship with his college-aged daughter Mengmeng (Landi Li). The one connection between them is their mutual love for her ginger tabby cat, whom Mengmeng calls Angela but the father calls Hulu (for the sake of this review we will only use the name Hulu).

Hulu is still living with Ming while Mengmeng is in America. Ming puts Hulu on a video call with his daughter and she tells him she plans on taking Hulu back to the States with her.

Ming adores Hulu and even prepares special food for her and eats with her on the dining table. He loves his daughter but has already lost both her and his wife and fears losing Hulu as well.

He devises a plan to make Mengmeng not want to take back Hulu. He tears up his own apartment, making it look as if the cat is super destructive.

When Mengmeng arrives she is shocked by all the damage the cat supposedly caused but really doesn’t buy the story, knowing her cat isn’t like that. Hulu and Ming seem to be on the same page in trying to get Mengmeng to give up the idea of taking her back to America.

Mengmeng really loves Hulu but also knows how much her father cares for the cat. She explains to her father how much his hiding the truth about his divorce from her hurt and makes a deal that if he can get an autograph from a pop star for her she will leave the cat. He tries but appears to fail in this attempt.

At the airport Ming bids a sad farewell to Hulu. But as Mengmeng goes to board she is given a note from her father and finds out he actually did procure the autographs for her. He was willing to let her take the cat to win back her love. She runs out and gives Hulu back to her father.

The other cat story focuses on an extremely germophobic artist named An Ying (Qingzi Kan). Her neighbor, a reporter named Luo Hua (Jianci Tan), enlists her aid in rescuing an adorable grey and white tabby kitten from beneath a parked car one night. She reluctantly helps him rescue the kitty. He says they can share the cat and she is too shy to refuse.

He shows up at her apartment later and hands her the kitten. The first thing she does is try to give the kitty a bath.

The next scenes finds her at the veterinarian’s office with a wounded hand. She is shocked to learn that cats bite. Nevertheless, she buys a bunch of supplies to care for the cat which comes to 726 yuan. From here on out she calls the kitten 726.

It takes some time for Ying to get used to 726, especially when the kitten starts knocking all of her collectible figures off the shelves.

But eventually 726 wins her heart and she becomes attached to the kitty even though she continues to share him with Hua, taking the kitten back when he is out of town.

But one time he brings the kitten over in a plastic carrier and makes a confession.

He explains that he actually rescued the kitten on his own but then put the kitten back under the car and asked for her help because he was in love with her and wanted to have a connection. She is flattered and the couple kiss as 726 watches.

Kitty Cameos: A couple of cats are seen in the veterinarian’s office at the beginning of the film.

Several outtakes are shown during the end credits, plus the final theme song is performed by William Chan who is shown sitting with a white cat and a grey and white tabby.

Behind the Scenes:

The animal actors were provided by Animals for Hollywood with David Allsberry acting as Animal Coordinator. Rizzo and Gonzo played Hulu / Angela and were trained by Andrea Ver Meer and Linda Rowe. 726 was played by Leon, Belle and Snow and the kittens were trained by Mike Miliotti and Kelli Brownell-Fulco.

Many lovely posters were created to promote the film, including ones that focused on the specific stories.

There were even posters made for the main animal actors in the segments!

Final Mewsings: Do our kitties understand just how much we really adore them?

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