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Garfield
20th Century Fox Film Corporation


4.0

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 44 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties

MPAA RATING: PG for brief mild language

Starring Bill Murray, Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Evan Arnold, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Daamen J. Krall, and Rufus Gifford

Garfield marks the long-awaited motion picture debut of America's favorite feline and the world's laziest cat. (20th Century Fox)

GENRE(S):	Animation \| Comedy \| Family/Kids
WRITTEN BY:	Joel Cohen Alec Sokolow Jim Davis (comic strip Garfield)
DIRECTED BY:	Peter Hewitt
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 19, 2004 Video: October 19, 2004 Theatrical: June 11, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	82 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The filmmakers obviously understand and love Garfield, and their movie lacks that sense of smarmy slumming you sometimes get when Hollywood brings comic strips to the screen.

Film Threat Peter Lowry

Overall, Garfield's first movie might not be as amusing as the cartoon but it was still a lot of fun to watch.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

In short, it's an almost flawlessly innocuous entertainment for kids.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Not even Bill Murray could save Garfield. Perhaps the comedian -- so pitch-perfect as the sardonic actor in "Lost in Translation" -- got too deeply into character.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

The cinematic Garfield: The Movie feels like an 82-minute commercial for Garfield, The Brand rather than cinematic dumb fun.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

If it weren't for Murray, there'd be nothing at all to the film, which forgets all conventional notions of story or characterization.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

However terrific Murray is, if Antonio Banderas, mellifluous voice of Puss-in-Boots in "Shrek 2," went paw to claw with Garfield, Puss would definitely triumph.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Cloddish, unfunny dud.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Under Peter Hewitt's phoned-in direction, Garfield chugs along like the slow train to Chattanooga, with only Jennifer Love Hewitt, as the local vet, twittering pertly in a desperate effort to raise Jon's feeble pulse.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Unlike that widely appealing picture with the giant green ogre, this one's strictly for the kiddies.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

The CGI is well-done, but Garfield's presence among the otherwise live cast is a constant distraction.

Empire Jo Berry

Cute and friendly enough, but for anyone over eight, not recommended.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Garfield the comic strip stopped being funny about 10 years ago. Garfield the Movie makes it to about the 10-minute mark before tedium sets in.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The filmmakers find "laughs" in sadistic violence.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

There's nothing to recommend about this film except its sheer innocuousness. And Bill Murray's off-screen voicing as Garfield adds no "Robin Williams" element to the movie.

Variety Joe Leydon

Only very small children still easily impressed by interaction of human actors and CGI quadrupeds will be amused by Garfield.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Bland, workmanlike and instantly forgettable.

Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg

No one can accuse Garfield: The Movie of infidelity to its source: It faithfully conveys the banality of Jim Davis's cartoon.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

The popularity of Davis' strip represents the ultimate triumph of mediocrity, but even the cartoonist's competent hackwork deserves better than this.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The cat is computer-generated, as are his one-liners.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

A black-dressing young intellectual of my acquaintance recently ascribed a "lazy generosity" to Garfield and his daily antics. If so, the movie gets the laziness but misses the generosity.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Thanks to that dog-torture element, Garfield may be too upsetting for younger kids. Meanwhile, older kids (let alone parents) will want to put this movie behind them like yesterday's hairball.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

This isn't a movie, it's a marketing ploy. Would you like a plush Garfield toy with that popcorn?

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This a neutered Garfield, one part tomcat and three parts pussy, recognizable only by his orange coat and love of lasagna. This feline's got a serious case of mange.

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

Nothing really works here, and nobody seems to have put in a huge amount of effort, except maybe the marketing department -- there are many product placements.

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

Now here's the reason America won't love Garfield: The Movie: Garfield's gone from the listless feline we all know and love to a fast-stepping, break-dancing cat about town. What's worse, the other characters are even farther from their roots.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The blend of live action and animation is competently done, but the subtly mean-spirited screenplay has more sour meows than hearty laughs.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

That Garfield speaks in the supercilious, world-weary drawl of Bill Murray is some small consolation, as are a few of the animal tricks.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

Bill Murray completists, tots under 5 and their unfortunate chaperons are the only ones who need experience the soulless excuse for an entertainment called Garfield: The Movie.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

The best way for Fox to atone for releasing this shameless pile of c--- is in the manner befitting all unwanted kittens: put all the negatives in a bag filled with rocks and sink them in a very deep river. Sprinkle some garlic over the water for good measure, to make sure the movie never rises to torment the living again.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Garfield is a downright cat-astrophe.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

You'd have to be a real a..hole to hate this movie, loaded as it is with adorable animals. Sadly the task falls to me.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.0 (out of 10) based on 44 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Laila V. gave it a0:
I really like garfield but this movie it's a waste of time and the cat it's very stupid.

Chantz E. gave it a0:
The worst movie i have ever seen that was not white chicks. The comic strip is mildly amusing, and the character is I guess tolerable as a ploy to sell T-shirts, I mean, Who cant love a fat cat? But who cant HATE a fat cat all Comp Generated, voiced by the lackluster bill murray,and set in a TERRIBLE plot line? The characters were just taken from the comic book and edited to fit this ABOMNIATION to humanity. I have lost all faith in god.

Joe E. gave it a10:
I really liked this movie. befor i never payed attion 2 movies like garfield but when i saw it i loved it.

Anthony D. gave it a10:
Best movie ever i like garfeild i am 16 years old and loved it, best movie ever!!!

T S gave it a10:
The best movie I have ever seen.

Joe B. gave it a0:
I nearly gone insane watching it. There should be a law to stop crap like this. Garfield Sucks!

[Anonymous] gave it a6:
Good enough to watch once, but not interesting enough to watch twice.

Garfield 20th Century Fox Film Corporation

Garfield
20th Century Fox Film Corporation