Murder of a Cat (2014) Review!!

Synopsis – A man investigates the murder of his cat, while unraveling an unexpected conspiracy.

My Take – This film could have been pleasant enough comic thriller, about the murder behind of the most awesome feline animals (Yup! I am a cat lover), even though the main focus is on why the cat gets murdered, you just cant help but wish it was the lead character who should have died. The story follows Clinton Moisey (Fran Kranz), a grown man who still lives with his mother (Blythe Danner) and seems to spend most of the day in his bathrobe. When he finds his beloved cat dead — shot with a crossbow — he becomes a self-appointed private eye in the “Bored to Death” tradition and tries to solve the crime.

The film’s best feature is its supporting cast, especially Nikki Reed as a woman who owned the same cat (it was moonlighting, alternating between the two homes), J. K. Simmons as the local sheriff, and Greg Kinnear as the owner of a huge store that figures prominently in the mystery. These secondary characters are fun, but Clinton is mostly annoying. The promises so many crazy ideas as its premise unfolds, but never delivers anything more than a dry series of events. The twists are neither predictable nor interesting, and the mismatched pairing of Clinton and Greta is unconvincing and forced. But where the film really misses its beats is in Clinton’s character development. It’s clear he’s supposed to evolve into a more confident, daring man, and he does. But the film doesn’t really explain why, or show the process through anything other than a haircut and a new suit. In the end, he’s still just badgering everyone about his cat the same way he did in the beginning, he just looks better while doing it. There aren’t enough laughs to maintain the weak plot, and it is a pity. It’s a funny enough script, but it’s Kranz’s take on the lead role that elevates the film with fantastic comic delivery and an increasing seriousness unmatched by the film itself or anyone else in it.

The cat’s death is a non-starter for everyone else, but for him this is a deadly serious affair mainly because he is not quite as good at conveying Clinton’s sadness over the loss of his cat! On the whole Murder of a cat could have been like something we have never seen before, but falters in trying to hard to be an amusing comedy, for a first feature from Gillian Greene (wife of the director Sam Raimi, a producer here) does not pass the test, as she just didn’t do enough to prove why anyone should even see this film.