The play and now movie have not been worthy of the poet, but they have their worthy moments.
Cats
Grade: C+
Director: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Screenplay: Hooper, Lee Hall
Cast: Francesca Hayward (Rocketman), Taylor Swift (Bad Blood)
Rating: PG
Runtime: 1h 50m
By: John DeSando
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep. T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Though these lines are not from Eliot’s cat-naming Old Possum poem, they do reflect his cat preference as the inspiration of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats, now on film. Writer/director Tom Hooper’s visuals capture the languid London of the story while the actors cannily imitate the sensuous personas of the notoriously enigmatic and elusive animal.
Knowing that Eliot could not have envisioned a musical version of his whimsical poem, much less on film, it’s not surprising that the musical remains even on film a mess of motifs and a thin story line. Add to that fuzzy CGI costumes and indistinct London backgrounds, it’s a critically-panned production that maybe couldn’t have been saved even with the magic of modern technology.
Lead Francesca Hayward as Victoria is a magnetic ballerina and face, while Dame Judy Dench comes off quite well underplaying Old Deuteronomy, an ancient feline making the momentous annual decision about who will be the pre-eminent jellicle cat. Ian McKellen
as always steals his scenes, this time as Gus the Theater Cat, who appropriately laments the loss of great theater. Any cat proclaiming from London, the seat of superior theater, has the right to complain.
Although there’s probably more dancing than in Westside Story, the writing is not half as good. To use clichés like “Look what the cat dragged in! and “Cat got your tongue?” is to seriously undermine the spirit of a pre-eminent 20th-century poet. No screenplay Oscar for this musical.
Of course, the play and film count on the blockbusting “Memory,” sung here by a soulful Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson). Taylor Swift sings an ok ballad for her almost cameo appearance. Magical Mr. Mistoffelees is a pop-like confection that nevertheless allows actors to show their chops while giving the audience another tune to hum on their way out.
Although themes of happiness coming from self-awareness and memory play throughout to unify the discursive story, Idris Elba’s bad-boy Macavity is just not bad enough to lend gravity. Busy sets and sometimes lyrical song and dance can’t redeem an otherwise flaccid story.
If for only one of my favorite poets, I wish this play had more than one weak life, but maybe with eight more possibilities it will be worthy of Eliot and Hooper.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
