Watching the Detectives (2007)

by Linda Kay

Directed by: Paul Soter

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

Synopsis: Neil (Cillian Murphy), who runs an independent video rental store, has his life turned upside down by Violet (Lucy Liu), a kooky free spirit.

Cat Cattle Call: Neil decides to follow the mysterious Violet to learn more about her. He tracks her to a house and when he peeks inside he’s shocked to see her feeding numerous cats.

Watching the Detectives - Violet Lucy Liu feeding grey and white longhair cats

Violet explains that she sneaks over to her elderly neighbor’s house occassionally to make sure the woman’s cats are being fed. Neil notes that the neighbor owns a television set while Violet does not. One night Neil wants to watch the basketball game on TV and convinces Violet that they should check on the neighbor’s cats. The next scene shows them sitting on a couch watching television surrounded by kitties.

Watching the Detectives - Neil Cillian Murphy and Violet Lucy Liu sitting on couch watching television surrounded by longhair cats

Neil gets excited about a play and leaps up, scaring most of the cats away.

Watching the Detectives - Neil Cillian Murphy jumping up and scaring numerous cats on couch with Violet Lucy Liu animated gif

As Violet and Neil discuss the situation, a lovely little pastel calico cat cuddles up with Violet.

Watching the Detectives - Neil Cillian Murphy and Violet Lucy Liu sitting on couch petting longhair pastel calico cat

Even when Violet reaches to put her arms around Neil, putting the cat in an awkward position, the kitty comes back for more.

Watching the Detectives - Neil Cillian Murphy and Violet Lucy Liu sitting on couch with longhair pastel calico cat
Watching the Detectives - Neil Cillian Murphy and Violet Lucy Liu sitting on couch with longhair pastel calico cat
Watching the Detectives - Neil Cillian Murphy and Violet Lucy Liu sitting on couch with longhair pastel calico cat

Violet gets fed up and walks away. The longhair calico has disappeared when the scene cuts to the wide shot but two other cats still occupy the couch.

Watching the Detectives - Neil Cillian Murphy sitting on couch with white cat and ginger and tabby cat

Final Mewsings: When you find a guy who wants to check the cats to really check the cats, he’s the one.

Many thanks to Wahrhaftig for letting us know about the cats in this film.

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