Tonal shifts hinder Susanna Fogel’s sophomore flick as a director, with true perils of dating arriving too late on.
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Booksmart co-writer Susanna Fogel’s sophomore flick as a director is very different to her debut, 2018 comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me .
Emilia Jones stars as Margot , a college sophomore who goes on a date with the older Robert (Nicholas Braun) only to discover that he doesn’t live up to the man she has been flirting with via text messages.
Cat Person is a strange film. It’s described as a mystery-thriller but up until the last half-hour it’s more like an indie rom-com.
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The story does a good job of putting the spotlight on the perils of modern dating but stays clear of entering the truly dark territory of movies like Hard Candy and Bad Match .
It could’ve done with more of an edge throughout its two-hour running time as Robert only really begins to display concerning tendencies very late on – unless you include him being rubbish in bed.
Fogel’s film touches on women under the male gaze and expectations many put upon them when it comes to dating and building relationships but doesn’t hammer you over the head with it.
Case in point is Geraldine Viswanathan’s Taylor who relentlessly hits out at men and their methods but is challenged on her views by others, including Margot .
Much of any early tension between Margot and Robert comes from their differing tastes in movies before the script effectively takes us into more concerning territory like a barrage of aggressive text messages and workplace staredowns.
Jones and Braun are very good and both manage to elicit our sympathy, admiration and understanding at various points.
However, I’m not quite sure what convinced the legendary Isabella Rossellini ( Dr Zabala ) to pop up for about five minutes of inconsequential screen time.
With an uneven tone that focuses on comedy for too long, Cat Person uses up too many of its nine lives too soon to warrant inclusion alongside the likes of Hard Candy , Fresh and What Keeps You Alive in the dating-from-hell genre.
● Pop me an email at ian.bunting@reachplc.com and I will pass on any movie or TV show recommendations you have to your fellow readers.
Kevin Marsden said: “It was great seeing Eddie Murphy back in comedy with Amazon Prime’s Candy Cane Lane.”
● Cat Person is available to buy or rent on Sky Store now.
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