Murder of a Cat

Murder of a Cat is a 2014 American independent thriller comedy film directed by Gillian Greene and starring Fran Kranz, Nikki Reed, J.K. Simmons, and Blythe Danner. The film premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.[1]

Murder of a Cat
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGillian Greene
Produced bySam Raimi
Ivan Orlic
Written byChristian Magalhaes
Robert Snow
StarringFran Kranz
Nikki Reed
J.K. Simmons
Blythe Danner
Music byDeborah Lurie
CinematographyChristophe Lanzenberg
Release date
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

When someone murders his beloved cat, Clinton (Kranz), an adult child, demands justice. Taking it upon himself to solve the case, he teams up with an unlikely ally, Greta (Reed), and the two set out to find the culprit lurking in their small suburban town. But as Clinton searches for the truth, he begins to uncover a conspiracy that goes far deeper than he anticipated.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was on the Hollywood "Black List" survey in 2010.[2] Fran Kranz replaced Jay Baruchel in the lead role.[3] The film was shot on location in Los Angeles, CA in 2013 by Seine Pictures and Raimi Productions.

Reception

The film was poorly received by critics. It currently has a 31 out of 100 on aggregate reviewer website Metacritic.[4] Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a score of 30%.[5] Kranz took a lot of the criticism along with Greene's direction.

Rex Reed of The New York Observer hated the film:

[T]his bucket of swill is so amateurish and confused it doesn’t know what it is. It’s not a comedy, drama or anything in-between. It’s best described as a bad California home movie... I saw it with three people. One walked out. The star of this dirge is a banana head named Fran Kranz, whose onscreen charisma is an undetectable secret. The benign direction is by Gillian Greene and the idiotic script is by Christian Magalhaes and Robert Snow.[6]

Joe Neumaier of The New York Daily News had slightly more positive things to say about the film:

This is a perfect example of the kind of indie movie J.K. Simmons will hopefully never have to do again if he wins an Oscar for Whiplash. The veteran character actor is in just a few scenes here, as a local sheriff helping a very annoying fellow (Fran Kranz).[7]

Sara Stewart of The New York Post gave the film more of a mixed review:

Heavy on quirk and light on wit, first-time director Gillian Greene’s comedy leans too heavily on the badly wigged Kranz, whose whiny and obsessive mannerisms make you wonder why Reed’s character shows any interest in him. Greene’s got a game supporting cast... but they’re all hampered by the screenplay’s lack of bite. Swing a dead cat here and you’ll hit a piece of limp dialogue.[8]

References
  1. "Murder of a Cat | 2014 Tribeca Film Festival". Tribecafilm.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  2. "'Murder Of A Cat' Adds Nikki Reed". Deadline.com. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  3. "Fran Kranz Replaces Jay Baruchel In Murder Of A Cat". CinemaBlend.com. 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  4. "Murder of a Cat Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  5. "Murder of a Cat (2014)".
  6. Rex Reed (2014-12-03). "Rex Reed Reviews 'Murder of a Cat'". Observer. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  7. "'Murder of a Cat': Movie review". New York: NY Daily News. 2014-12-03. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  8. Stewart, Sara (2014-12-03). "All-star cast can't save the dialogue in 'Murder of a Cat' | New York Post". Nypost.com. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
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