Garfield (2004) Movie Information:
| Garfield (2004) Directed by: |
 Peter Hewitt |
| Garfield (2004) Written by: |
| Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Jim Davis |
| Garfield (2004) Cast: |
| Bill Murray, Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Nick Cannon, Debra Messing, Alan Cumming, Brad Garrett, Jimmy Kimmel, David Eigenberg |
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Garfield (2004) Synopsis:
Life couldn't be sweeter for Garfield, everyone's favorite feline. Parked on a comfortable chair in front of the television, feasting on his favorite dish, lasagna, and hurling insults at his beleaguered owner Jon, Garfield is the master of his universe. When Jon takes Garfield to visit beautiful veterinarian Liz Wilson, she gives Jon a pepped-up, tail-wagging, panting creature that represents everything that Garfield loathes. Garfield, meet Odie, a lovable, dim-witted dog. The wise-cracking cat is, for the first time in his nine lives, left speechless. The clueless Odie chases his tail till he's dizzy, crashes into walls, and barks without cause, all to the unbridled delight of Jon who eagerly welcomes Odie into his home. Odie turns Garfield's perfect world upside down. Garfield's solution: OUT, DARN DOG. When the hapless hound disappears into the evil clutches of local celebrity Happy Chapman, you would think Garfield would rejoice. But he feels responsible for the fate of another. With uncharacteristic energy, courage and selflessness, Garfield manages to pull himself away from his lazy life and spring into action. He's on the unlikeliest of impossible missions: to save Odie.
Garfield (2004) Movie Review:
Ignore the fact that this film should have been made at least 15 years ago and you might enjoy it. The humour is fairly stale and obvious, but only if you remember reading Garfield cartoons 15 years ago ... or if you're a demanding moviegoer. Kids will have a great time!
Jon (Meyer) is a cheery young guy living in a gorgeous house with his fat, lazy cat Garfield (voiced by Bill Murray--and no, the humans can't hear the animals' voices). Jon has a schoolboy crush on the local veterinarian hottie (Hewitt), and adopts the homeless pooch Odie to impress her. But this of course sends Garfield into spasms of panic as he plots how to get rid of the dog. Then Odie's kidnapped by a nutty TV presenter (Tobolowsky) and only Garfield can rescue him.
There's a consistent stream of humour that at least keeps our interest, even though the writers haven't bothered to be either inventive or clever. The comedy and plot are worn out before the movie even starts--derivative and predictable, although there are a few sharp zingers here and there, mostly due to Murray's vocal work (everything else is pretty bland). Alas, there are frequent corny action set pieces and a couple of astonishingly ill-conceived bits, the most gruesome of which has Garfield crooning a bluesy lament about Odie to the tune of New York State of Mind.
Oddly, all of the animals in the film are real except the extremely cartoonish Garfield. The effects that create him are sometimes impressive, but mostly fairly clunky, especially since we can never accept him interacting with the actual dogs, cats and rodents he enlists to help him--they're genuine but he's not! It's also strange that Odie is the only animal who never speaks. And that the humans are all so insipid. So when Murray gives one of the rather weak jokes an extra vocal kick, we find ourselves chuckling almost in desperation. And as a result, the film is surprisingly watchable. But only just.
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Garfield (2004) review written by: Rich Cline
