When the Cat's Away - Quick Movie Review

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Title: When the Cat's Away

Release Date: 1996-06-01

Genres: Drama, Comedy


High essence:

"Desperately in need of a vacation from her surreal job dabbing makeup on runway models, Chloe (Garance Clavel) leaves her beloved Gris-Gris with Madame Renee (Renee Le Calm), a doyenne of the Bastille district where they both live."

"Although on the surface itis a mystery about the search for a lost feline, in reality, it hasonly marginal sympathy for the missing animal."

Medium essence:

Ruthe Stein:
  • And Chloe inadvertently breaks the heart of a dim-witted Arab immigrant (Zinedine Soualem, in a touching performance) who follows her around like a puppy as she searches for her cat.
  • Up-and-coming French director Cedric Klapisch based When the Cat's Away on real-life incidents, improvising as he went along.
  • Desperately in need of a vacation from her surreal job dabbing makeup on runway models, Chloe (Garance Clavel) leaves her beloved Gris-Gris with Madame Renee (Renee Le Calm), a doyenne of the Bastille district where they both live.

Steve Rhodes:
  • The menscour the small streets of Paris with her, and a network of older womenform a telephone chain to communicate the results of their search.
  • Although on the surface itis a mystery about the search for a lost feline, in reality, it hasonly marginal sympathy for the missing animal.
  • As the story starts, a young Parisian named Chloe has apredicament.

Low essence:

Ruthe Stein:
  • The frantic search that ensues gives a purpose to Chloe's meandering existence.
  • She envies the ease with which her gay roommate, Michel (Olivier Py), finds partners, and she doesn't mind waking up and seeing a stranger in the apartment.
  • And Chloe inadvertently breaks the heart of a dim-witted Arab immigrant (Zinedine Soualem, in a touching performance) who follows her around like a puppy as she searches for her cat.
  • Up-and-coming French director Cedric Klapisch based When the Cat's Away on real-life incidents, improvising as he went along.
  • Klapisch manages to keep the light tone while weaving in the true story of the Bastille area, which has been caught up in gentrification.
  • ) One of the mesdames enlisted to look for a missing pet in When the Cat's Away is introduced as president of Cats Are People, Too.
  • Desperately in need of a vacation from her surreal job dabbing makeup on runway models, Chloe (Garance Clavel) leaves her beloved Gris-Gris with Madame Renee (Renee Le Calm), a doyenne of the Bastille district where they both live.

Steve Rhodes:
  • After a vacation concisely summarized by a five second shot of herin the ocean, Chloe returns to find that Madame Renee no longer has hercat.
  • The menscour the small streets of Paris with her, and a network of older womenform a telephone chain to communicate the results of their search.
  • Although on the surface itis a mystery about the search for a lost feline, in reality, it hasonly marginal sympathy for the missing animal.
  • REVIEW WRITTEN ON: July 27, 1997 Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
  • As the story starts, a young Parisian named Chloe has apredicament.

Source:
http://reviews.imdb.com/Reviews/83/8381
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1997/07/11/DD6510.DTL