The Garfield Movie Review

                                                 The Garfield Movie



Growing up, one of my favorite shows was "Garfield and Friends," which was based on Jim Davis' comic strips. Lorenzo Music's portrayal of the title tabby was the highlight of the show, with all due respect to the gifted writers and other voice actors. Music's voice, which inexplicably always sounded like a yawn, was ideal for a character who wished he was asleep all the time. Yes, Garfield would eat wildly, especially when it came to lasagna, but the sound effects team would primarily manage that with whooshing noises. Otherwise, Garfield was the embodiment (cat-ification?) of indolence, speaking in Music's voice.


The movie begins with a flashback to Garfield's early years, when his doormat owner, Jon (Nicholas Hoult), found him after his father, Vic (Samuel L. Jackson), abandoned him in an alley. Soon after, the family welcomes a devoted dog named Odie (Harvey Guillen, who can only make dog noises), and the pets have inactive lives. Naturally, something must occur to prevent Garfield from relishing his complacency, and one evening he is catnapped rather than taking a catnap. He and Odie are taken to a hiding place where they run into Vic, who has been missing for a while. Although Vic is very much on a short leash himself, he is not their captor.

In reality, feline criminal boss Jinx (Hannah Waddingham) and her goons Roland (Brett Goldstein) and Nolan (Bowen Yang) are in charge of the enterprise. Vic is the target of her resentment because she abandoned her years ago during a milk robbery at a farm (unfortunately not Jim Davis's "U.S. Acres," though I would have enjoyed that crossover). However, if he, Garfield, and Odie can carry out the same theft now, with the farm having more security, Vic can pay back his loan. Despite Garfield and Odie being spoiled house pets and Garfield and Vic having a very bad relationship, the three grudgingly accept the mission.

With a privileged lead who lacks abilities and street smarts, the remainder of the film is an adventure-comedy that could be populated by characters from any franchise. The only thing that identifies it as "Garfield" is that, to the film's credit, Odie's inventiveness and steadfast friendship are still fantastic. A handful of the physical gags are effective, and the villains and a bull with Ving Rhames' voice steal some scenes (I found it hilarious that the Arby's pitchman would be voicing roast beef in the future). However, the miscast Pratt will always open his lips after a run of good jokes or good action scenes, reminding me that this film has a serious issue at its core.

Because Pratt is so inferior to Lorenzo Music, "The Garfield Movie" is largely mediocre. Compared to the Bill Murray films, where the setting was live-action and Garfield was a CGI monster, at least it had the grace to be entirely animated. Although the new film is never "that" upsetting, it also doesn't seem like anyone's greatest effort. Though it could have been worse, I suppose what I'm trying to say is that this film is lazy, and not in a way that is consistent with Garfield's style.






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