Wow, what a mixup! This benign, cheap-looking family comedy about a workaholic dad who learns What's Really Important when he becomes trapped body of a house cat was clearly supposed to be a Disney Channel movie. It carefully avoids profanity, it's the perfect length to fill a two-hour time slot with commercials, and the visual effects—even basic ones like green-screen backgrounds—seem to have been designed on the assumption that no discerning eye would ever see them. There's no way this was intended to play in theaters—and yet here it is, not on the Disney Channel, and not even from Disney! Somehow it accidentally stars Kevin Spacey, too, as the real estate tycoon who must reconnect with his wife (Jennifer Garner) and daughter (Malina Weissman), show his adult son (Robbie Amell) he’s proud of him, and save his company, all while being a cat. Inexplicably directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and credited to five (5) screenwriters, the film isn't without its simple charms (Christopher Walken plays the magical pet-shop owner)—but it’s not something you'd pay for, either.
By
Eric D. Snider