THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604260062
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
``THE TRUTH About Cats and Dogs'' has very little to do with either cats or dogs but quite a lot to do with men and women.
It's a love triangle with a friendly bent, complete with star-making roles for new personalities Janeane Garofalo and Ben Chaplin and a glamour turn by today's resident blonde, Uma Thurman. While the plot is ultra-simple and totally lacking in suspense, it is altogether pleasant. It's a winsome little timewaster that doesn't tax either the nerves or the brain.
Garofalo plays Abby, an intelligent but ordinary-looking girl who hosts a radio talk show about pets. When she gets a call from Brian, she tells him how to take control of a big snarling doggie. (The parts are played respectively by Chaplin and Hank the Dog). Brian is smitten by her and proposes that they meet.
But then there are the fatal five words: ``What do you look like?''
Feeling threatened, Abby describes herself as a tall, striking blonde when actually she's a short, plumpish brunette. When Brian shows up at the radio station, Abby palms off her striking neighbor, Thurman, as herself.
He thinks he's in love, but he's in love with the wrong girl.
Uma takes a liking to him also, in her character's ditzy way.
Which girl will win the guy?
Everyone knows by now that in the movies the underdog always wins. With no suspense about the outcome, we're left with three interesting personalities to ogle.
Chaplin, a British actor who has appeared in ``Remains of the Day'' and the yet-to-arrive ``Feast of July,'' is a winsome guy, complete with wholesome smile. He may fill the void left by Hugh Grant's current absence from films.
Garofalo is a stand-up comic who effectively belittles herself to the degree that she becomes adorable. After scene-stealing outings in ``Reality Bites'' and ``Bye Bye, Love,'' this is the role that should easily launch her film career.
For Thurman, it's just another star appearance (such as in ``Beautiful Girls'') that capitalizes on her image. (Everyone keeps talking about how intelligent she is, but she keeps playing these dumb-dumb parts.)
Keeping the mistaken identity playing for 97 minutes is a bit of a stretch. But when you think about it, Shakespeare did as much with even thinner plots of romantic confusion.
This variation on the ``Cyrano'' theme is pleasant in that it has no villains. The guy would be lucky no matter which one turns out to be the heroine. Color this one likable. MEMO: MOVIE REVIEW
``The Truth About Cats and Dogs''
Cast: Uma Thurman, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Chaplin, Hank the Dog
Director: Michael Lehman
MPAA rating: PG-13 (some language but the sex scene is merely phoned
in)
Mal's rating: three stars
Locations: Area theaters ILLUSTRATION: 20TH CENTURY FOX photo
Uma Thurman, left, and Janeane Garofalo portray neighbors enmeshed
in romantic chaos.
by CNB