The Truth About Cats and Dogs (Janeane Garofalo)

(Amazon UK link)

We watched ‘The Truth about Cats and Dogs’ at the end of 2011, and had entirely forgotten what it was about. But it looked like a good light evening’s viewing when we wanted something that would not tax any brain cells.

Janeane Garofalo stars in this as Abby, a qualified vet who answers questions about animals on a popular radio show. She responds to visitors with friendliness and charm as well as taking their concerns seriously and helping them with their questions. We see her sorting out a few basic problems, and then she has a call from Brian…

Brian (Ben Chaplin) is a photographer who is struggling with a dog on roller skates. I didn’t entirely grasp why the dog was in this situation, but it was quite nervous and resisting any attempt to help it calm down, or to remove the skates. Abby talks Brian through approaching the dog in a submissive way, helping it to calm down by stroking the ear tips, and her techniques are successful. I also didn’t gather why the dog, Hank, was available for adoption, but Abby persuades Brian to take him home…

Brian is so grateful - and rather smitten by Abby’s telephone manner and voice - that he sends her a gift, and asks her on a date. However, although Abby is very confident with animals, she’s extremely self-conscious about her appearance, and reluctant to go out with any guys. So although she agrees eventually to meet him, she describes herself fictitiously, based on the appearance of her tall, blonde neighbour… and then stands him up.

This sets the scene for an increasingly tangled comedy of errors. Abby’s neighbour Noelle (Uma Thurman) is outgoing and confident with men, but not particularly intelligent. She’s also considered very attractive, although personally we thought Abby had a much nicer face, at least until Noelle started persuading her to use make-up, which rather spoiled her appearance.

Brian is told that Noelle is Abby, when he sees the two together, and Abby pretends to be a friend called Donna. Brian likes Noelle’s appearance very much, but is puzzled as to why her voice is different, and that she seems to be lacking intelligence. Both the young women are attracted to him, and this leads to a temporary rift in their friendship…

It’s a nice story, if a bit predictable, and has a good mixture of humour and poignancy. The question is raised as to whether Brian is more attracted to the personality he has got to know in the real Abby, or the appearance he sees in the person he thinks is Abby. In this era when some people care so much about looks, it’s a good message, but we failed to see why the real Abby was considered unattractive, as she is bubbly, with incredible eyes, and a friendly, pretty face, whereas Noelle is extremely tall and rather too thin. But perhaps that was deliberate, making a parody of some people’s expectations.

It’s rated 15, probably because of one strongly implied sexual scene and one or two instances of strong language, although the US rating of PG-13 is probably more appropriate. Not that it would be of much interest to children or younger teenagers anyway.

All in all, we liked this film very much.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews