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Judi Dench: "Cats"

Wading into the "Cats" discussion....

My husband and my mother both say they liked this film, and that's a fact I'm struggling to digest. That said, I don't actually think it's the apocalyptic disaster that various tweeters have invented in their memories.

It's a not-good adaptation of a not-good musical with a few moments of cleverness. Specifically:

*Giving octogenarian legend Judi Dench vast swaths of screen time is always a smart idea. Dench does her dignified, twinkly act, here, and it's charming. It's especially fun to see her opposite Ian McKellan; these two have obvious, infectious chemistry.
*Ian McKellan himself is the reason to make it through the first hour. Actors talk about "lightning in a bottle moments": a scene where an actor captures a truth about the human condition, almost casually, without a sense of laboriousness. McKellan gives this movie its one true "lightning in a bottle" moment: An aging actor, startled by the thunder around him, stares at his own two hands in wonder, aware that these hands have "conjured" the special effects. OK. OK. This is memorable.
*The movie is, at least, a reminder of the existence of T.S. Eliot's "Ad-dressing of Cats," which has some effective ideas. It's a wacky consideration of this question: How do you greet a cat? Well: "First, your memory I'll jog--and say a cat is not a dog." Delightful! And: "With cats, some say one rule is true: Don't speak till you are spoken to...." I don't need to hear Judi Dench murmuring these odd, witty lines a second time--but, also, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Do you not see the names of certain actors in this review? Remember the old rule: "If you can't say anything nice....." That's all that I have to say about "Cats."

P.S. Just a reminder that Dench is a musical theater force, as well as a cinema force: She has done Sondheim .... and Kander & Ebb, at the least .....
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