The Cat in the Hat

“Don't mess with the hat.”

5.3

2003

1h 22m

FamilyComedyAdventureFantasy

Director: Bo Welch

Watch on Netflix

Overview

During a rainy day, and while their mother is out, Conrad and Sally, and their pet fish, are visited by the mischievous Cat in the Hat. Fun soon turns to mayhem, and the siblings must figure out how to rid themselves of the maniacal Cat.

Trailer

Theatrical Trailer Official

Cast

The Cat

Mike Myers

The Cat

Sally Walden

Dakota Fanning

Sally Walden

Conrad Walden

Spencer Breslin

Conrad Walden

Joan Walden

Kelly Preston

Joan Walden

Larry Quinn

Alec Baldwin

Larry Quinn

Mrs. Kwan

Amy Hill

Mrs. Kwan

Mr. Humberfloob / Fish (voice)

Sean Hayes

Mr. Humberfloob / Fish (voice)

Thing One

Danielle Chuchran

Thing One

Taylor Rice

Thing One

Thing Two

Brittany Oaks

Thing Two

Talia-Lynn Prairie

Thing Two

Thing One / Thing Two (voice)

Dan Castellaneta

Thing One / Thing Two (voice)

Reviews

Kamurai

Decent watch, might watch again, and can recommend, but more for older audiences. While "The Cat in the Hat" is a famous children's book, this is clearly just aimed at the folks that might have read it when they were children. That mixes the nostalgia factor with the slew of adult oriented jokes (like infomercials) and the unnecessary addition of mother being single and dating. Kids aren't going to find humor in those situations. The material that is closer to the original book is much more charming and I imagine that kids will relate to it more as the kids are much more involved, or even the focus of the scenes. The Cat in the Hat, even though he is the title character, is a support character to the two kids, played by Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin, who both do all they can with the writing to balance out Mike Myers as the Cat. I don't feel like Mike Myers understands the idea of being a supporting character: he gives me a very Tom Cruise / Jimmy Fallon vibe where if there was a pause, then would just center himself in the camera and do something to draw attention. "Oh yeah!" is a good example for this movie, a repeated, unnecessary line that doesn't once help the scene let alone the movie. One would think after Jim Carey's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) there would be a formula for how to adapt Dr. Seuss books (20 pages) to full length feature films, and someone clearly figured it out later in "The Lorax" (2012) and "The Grinch" (2018), so I'm....gonna blame Mike Myers. Him aside, the movie has a lot of charm to it, and Alec Baldwin manages to work an unnecessary part to at least be a believable antagonist, though the best acting in the world can't make a bad part good. If you're just really into Dr. Seuss, then give it a watch, but you're not going to miss anything special if you skip it.

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