by Linda Kay
Starring: Gros Minet
Directed by: Carol Wiseman
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Aspiring singer Lisa Hollis (Molly Ringwald) finds success in Paris when she teams up with musician and fellow songwriter Charlie Hunter (Patrick Dempsey), yet their romantic relationship turns contentious and leads to a nasty break up. Years later the pair are asked to write a song together for a movie, much to the chagrin of Charlie’s new fiancé Julie (Lysette Anthony).
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Since the pair need to work together in the same location to write the song, Julie suggests Lisa come stay at the country homes she and Charlie are renovating outside Paris. When Lisa arrives, she enters their house where a grey cat is lying on the bed.
Julie picks up the cat, whose name is Thelonius (no doubt after Thelonius Monk) and scolds him for being on the bed.
She carries the cat over her shoulder as she leads Lisa from the room.
In a later scene, Charlie is holding Thelonius as he and Lisa sit outside looking at the stars.
Constant noise of construction on the property causes Lisa and Charlie to long for some quiet time to themselves, so they ask Donnie (Danny Green), the nephew of Moshe Mosek (Michaël Goldman) the movie’s producer, to work up some bass lines so Julie will hear music and think they are still there. As Donnie messes around on an electronic keyboard, smoking and letting the phone ring, Thelonius looks on critically.
With the song due in a day, Mosek shows up threatening to sue the pair for everything they have if they don’t deliver. “I’ll even take your goddamn cat!” he threatens.
Things go from bad to worse with Lisa and Charlie having no success working together. At one point Lisa thinks she hears Charlie fiddling on the electronic keyboard and hopefully peeks in the window only to find it is Thelonius walking across then laying down on the instrument.
Charlie has been helping Julie plan their wedding and has even written a song for her. As they lay together in bed with Thelonius sleeping below, Charlie reaches down and gently pets the kitty before starting the pre-recorded tune on the keyboard. Sadly Julie, who has tried to steer Charlie clear of music, is not terribly impressed.
Charlie realizes he is in love with Lisa and not Julie and so the latter kicks him out of the house. As he walks outside, Thelonius is sitting in an empty flower box.
With Thomas the gardener they watch as Julie throws Charlie’s possessions out the window.
Thelonius then watches as Charlie releases the doves which were supposed to be set free at the wedding.
Carrying the cat under his arm, Charlie heads for his car, pausing to speak to the lawyer Daniel (Dominic Jephcott).
As Charlie climbs into his car to leave, we just barely see Thelonius climbing into the back window of the vehicle and settling there as it drives away.
The cat actor on the film was named Gros Minet (which translates to fat or large cat) who reportedly also starred in the 2003 Canadian short film Une éclaircie sur le fleuve. The animal trainer on this film was Clement Nataf.
Final Mewsings: It’s always nice when the cat character is not forgotten at the end of the movie.
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