The Cat in the Hat (2003)

“Without my hat, I’m just your garden variety six-foot tall talking cat. ” – The Cat

Number of Times Seen – 1 (20 Sep 2020)

Brief Synopsis – On a boring rainy day, a mysterious Cat in a hat shows up to help two kids have fun.

My Take on it – As a kid, I was always a fan of Dr. Seuss books (like most of us) and I even enjoy reading them to my kids whenever I can.

This is a film that I had very little desire to see, but while trying to expand my knowledge of films starring Kelly Preston, I decided to give it a shot.

Boy, was that a mistake!

This was an absolutely horrendously made film.

They take the basic premise of the story and try so hard to expand on it in so many ways that they end up diluting the story so much which is such a shame.

Mike Myers is terribly creepy in the title role and isn’t able to help make this more entertaining because his character is so annoying to watch especially since his performance is so spine cringing.

The rest of the cast is very talented and that includes Kelly Preston and Alec Baldwin yet none of them are able to help make this film any more watchable.

After having seen this adaptation, I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that Dr. Seuss’ widow forbade Hollywood from ever making another live-action adaptation of his work (see Trivia section below)

Bottom Line – This is an absolutely horrendous adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book. They try too hard to add new characters and expand the story and it takes so much away from the original premise. Myers is quite creepy in the title role and instead of making it fun, things are far too strange and spine cringing. The cast is quite impressive but eve Baldwin and Preston can’t help make this any more enjoyable.  I’m not at all surprised that there will probably never be any more live action adaptations of Seuss’ work (see Trivia below) because this was so terrible…

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Audrey Giesel, Dr. Seuss’s widow, was so furious after she saw the film that she legally forbade Hollywood from making anymore live-action adaptations of Dr. Seuss stories. It’s the reason all subsequent Dr. Seuss films have been animated. (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (1/10)

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