Rating:
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Producers: Kim Bieber and Carol Lewis
Writer: Steven Peros
Director of Photography: Bruno Delbonnel
Cast: Edward Herrmann, Kirsten Dunst, Cary Elwes, Jennifer Tilly
| THE CAT'S MEOW Rating: Director: Peter Bogdanovich Producers: Kim Bieber and Carol Lewis Writer: Steven Peros Director of Photography: Bruno Delbonnel Cast: Edward Herrmann, Kirsten Dunst, Cary Elwes, Jennifer Tilly |
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Review by: Dan
Tester
4/4/02
It is the stuff of Hollywood legend. In 1924, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst hosted a party aboard his private yacht, the Oneida. The guest list was a virtual who's who of early Hollywood. Film pioneers Charlie Chaplin and Thomas Ince, novelist Elinor Glyn, columnist Louella Parsons, and actress Marion Davies (Hearst's young mistress) rounded out the A-list, as various other less notable invitees filled up the background. They left early on a Saturday morning for a wild weekend of frivolity on the high seas, but returned far ahead of schedule, following a mysterious death on board, and a rumored massive cover-up. Was it really an accident? Was it murder? Did Hearst do it? And why? What really happened in the wee hours of that fateful Sunday morning remains a mystery to this day, but The Cat's Meow, Peter Bogdanovich's return to form, explores the most popular theory.
The production notes clearly state, "Mr. Bogdanovich requests that anyone writing about this film refrains from revealing the murder victim." I can understand his motivation in this day and age of surprise endings as major selling points, but this approach, unfortunately, results in a creative structure that diminishes the film's effect somewhat. The structure resembles that of an Agatha Christie mystery, featuring a boat full of notables, all with possible motives for... murder. And the film's first half gets a bit bogged down with them.
Hearst (Edward Herrmann) has suspected an illicit affair between his beloved Davies (Kirsten Dunst) and the lecherous Chaplin (Eddie Izzard), and has invited the "little tramp" aboard with specific intentions to "check them out together." Thomas Ince (Cary Elwes) is there for business, to propose a merger with Hearst that would make them the kings of Hollywood, and will stop at nothing to complete the deal. Louella Parsons (Jennifer Tilly) is a seemingly harmless up-and-coming journalist with a suspicious edge, and Elinor Glyn (Joanna Lumley) is the affected snob, who will barely even look at you without first checking your pedigree. She hates everybody. Even the minor characters are either given subtle motives, or are left so innocent that they simply MUST be up to something!
Thus, inexplicably, the film is set up as this mystery, while many viewers, I would suspect, already know what happened. Even if the viewer is unaware, it doesn't really matter. The true intrigue of this story is not what happened, but instead, how and why.
But despite this structural flaw, The Cat's Meow was simply very entertaining. There is a kinetic energy to it that is both unexpected and satisfying. Bogdanovich's confident direction keeps the action moving, and although a few too many subplots mar the pace at times, he is mostly successful. The camerawork by Bruno Delbonnel is alive, utilizing every inch of the massive yacht for dramatic effect. Also notable is the amazing production design, as Jean-Vincent Puzos dresses this seafaring set with an elegant, beautiful backdrop that becomes a character all its own.
Most of the performances are wonderful. Edward Herrmann is amazing as William Randolph Hearst, with a performance that paints the aging millionaire at times as both a bumbling romantic and a jealous, paranoid nut that could give Richard Nixon a run for his money. It's fun to watch the range of his performance swing back and forth, from the diabolical businessman with seemingly endless secret agendas, to the buffoonish clown sweating through the Charleston. He is the kind of man who likes to wander the deck at sunset to watch the seagulls. Not to admire them mind you, but to shoot them. Cary Elwes is also outstanding as the serious, brooding Thomas Ince, the early film visionary, who has some secret agendas of his own. Eddie Izzard looks nothing like Charlie Chaplin, but essentially captures his devilish spirit in his desperate, pathetic pursuit of Marion Davies. And Joanna Lumley is great as Elinor Glyn, the "grand eccentric cynic," firing off one sarcastic gem after another, as if the Algonquin Roundtable is permanently crouched behind her seat, feeding her lines.
However, Kirsten Dunst is oddly miscast as the up-and-coming Marion Davies. While she embodies the look of the day, with her stylish 20's hairdo and flapper outfits, her performance seems a little too modern, and is distracting. But she can sure dance the Charleston. Jennifer Tilly once again plays Jennifer Tilly, and not until the end do we see anything in her performance that stands out.
Overall, I did enjoy The Cat's Meow,
despite its flaws. But I really would have liked a little less
of the exposition, and more of the denouement. The ending is too
abrupt, as Hearst orchestrates, and seemingly achieves, a massive
cover-up. I would have enjoyed a bit more on this aspect of the
story, because it is simply fascinating. The sheer power one man
had over his minions. No one aboard that boat ever uttered a word
about what actually occurred, even long after Hearst's death.
They all took their secrets to the grave. That is assuming, of
course, there really were any secrets to be kept, after all.
Agree? Disagree? Talk about it in the forums.
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