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Catseye adapts two stories from Stephen King's Night Shift, plus one original story, tied together by the adventures and travails of an incredibly adorable, resourceful, and well-trained tabby cat. The cat is legitimately the best actor in the movie (SORRY DREW BARRYMORE), and I regret that he did not go on to star in more movies.
"The Ledge" is one of my very favorite Stephen King stories, and one of my favorite short stories in general. "Quitters, Inc." is an effective short story that isn't one of my personal favorites, but I can see why a lot of people love it. So this movie had good material to work with.
It is deeply stupid. The cat is far and away the best part.
The movie opens with the cat getting chased by Cujo, and passing Christine. In case we don't recognize Christine, she has a bumper sticker saying CHRISTINE. This is the general level of subtlety of the movie.
The cat escapes and sees kid Drew Barrymore psychically calling to him for help from a store mannequin. Later he sees her calling from a TV shows. How and why she can psychically call him or he can psychically sense her distress is never explained or ever referred to again.
He's picked up by the head of Quitters, Inc., a deranged organization that helps people quit smoking by threatening them. James Woods is referred to it by a friend, and fails to leave even when he sees a man sobbing hysterically and a woman staggering and distraught in the lobby. The head of Quitters Inc. (Alan King, chewing the scenery with relish) informs him that if he ever smokes again, they'll harm his wife and kid! They demonstrate by electrifying the floor under the cat, who promptly escapes.
James Woods goes home and sneaks a cigarette in the middle of the night, during a storm. But a man is lurking in his closet! We know because we see 1) his boots, 2) water dripping down, 3) wet footprints. (Subtle.) He flees back to the bedroom rather than calling the cops. The failure to inform the police is a lot more noticeable in the movie than in the short story, which breezes by much faster and never makes it explicit exactly how he's being watched.
The best part of this story is the party in which everyone is smoking and Woods has a series of bonkers visions of people blowing smoke out of their ears, dancing cigarette packs, etc. It reminded me of how much I don't miss all indoor public spaces being thick with smoke in the 80s.
"The Ledge" is not bad, though the short story is much better. It does have an excellent guest turn by a vicious attack pigeon.
In the last story, the cat makes it to Drew Barrymore, who never shows any indication of being psychic (and neither does he, so what was up with the psychic visions???) She is, however, being stalked by a troll.
The troll is one of the least scary monsters I've ever seen in a movie. It's the size of a guinea pig, moves slowly and clumsily, and mutters and wheezes like a middle-aged, out-of-shape lunatic. You could just kick it across the room. It wields a knife which in some shots is big and dangerous, and in others is a plastic toy about a third of an inch long. It engages in a battle with General in which it is revealed that General knows how to play a record player, and is generally is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
The movie does end with General being fed fresh fish and sleeping on Drew Barrymore's chest, so that's nice.
"The Ledge" is one of my very favorite Stephen King stories, and one of my favorite short stories in general. "Quitters, Inc." is an effective short story that isn't one of my personal favorites, but I can see why a lot of people love it. So this movie had good material to work with.
It is deeply stupid. The cat is far and away the best part.
The movie opens with the cat getting chased by Cujo, and passing Christine. In case we don't recognize Christine, she has a bumper sticker saying CHRISTINE. This is the general level of subtlety of the movie.
The cat escapes and sees kid Drew Barrymore psychically calling to him for help from a store mannequin. Later he sees her calling from a TV shows. How and why she can psychically call him or he can psychically sense her distress is never explained or ever referred to again.
He's picked up by the head of Quitters, Inc., a deranged organization that helps people quit smoking by threatening them. James Woods is referred to it by a friend, and fails to leave even when he sees a man sobbing hysterically and a woman staggering and distraught in the lobby. The head of Quitters Inc. (Alan King, chewing the scenery with relish) informs him that if he ever smokes again, they'll harm his wife and kid! They demonstrate by electrifying the floor under the cat, who promptly escapes.
James Woods goes home and sneaks a cigarette in the middle of the night, during a storm. But a man is lurking in his closet! We know because we see 1) his boots, 2) water dripping down, 3) wet footprints. (Subtle.) He flees back to the bedroom rather than calling the cops. The failure to inform the police is a lot more noticeable in the movie than in the short story, which breezes by much faster and never makes it explicit exactly how he's being watched.
The best part of this story is the party in which everyone is smoking and Woods has a series of bonkers visions of people blowing smoke out of their ears, dancing cigarette packs, etc. It reminded me of how much I don't miss all indoor public spaces being thick with smoke in the 80s.
"The Ledge" is not bad, though the short story is much better. It does have an excellent guest turn by a vicious attack pigeon.
In the last story, the cat makes it to Drew Barrymore, who never shows any indication of being psychic (and neither does he, so what was up with the psychic visions???) She is, however, being stalked by a troll.
The troll is one of the least scary monsters I've ever seen in a movie. It's the size of a guinea pig, moves slowly and clumsily, and mutters and wheezes like a middle-aged, out-of-shape lunatic. You could just kick it across the room. It wields a knife which in some shots is big and dangerous, and in others is a plastic toy about a third of an inch long. It engages in a battle with General in which it is revealed that General knows how to play a record player, and is generally is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
The movie does end with General being fed fresh fish and sleeping on Drew Barrymore's chest, so that's nice.
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