Directed by: Tom Hooper
This review contains a Kitty Carnage Warning!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical finds the persecuted Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) constantly being hounded by the persistent Javert (Russell Crowe).
Purr Blur: One musical number entitled Master Of The House takes place in a seedy inn run by Thénardier (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter). They sing about how wonderful they are at running a respectable inn, all the while doing nasty things to the patrons. As they throw rats and similar vermin into a large meat grinder Thénardier sings, “Food beyond compare, food beyond belief, mix it in a mincer and pretend it’s beef.” As they sing a tuxedo cat is just barely visible sitting on the table.
Kitty Carnage Warning! The next line is, “Kidney of a horse, liver of a cat . . . ” As he sings, he takes a cleaver and chops of the cat’s tail as the cat leaps down from the table with a screech. The tail then goes into the grinder. It’s clear the cat actor used for the scene was a Manx and the tail was fake.
Final Mewsings: In the 19th century cats were as miserable as everyone else
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