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Garfield
20th Century Fox Film Corporation
FILM:
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...
75
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.
70
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.
58
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
In short, it's an almost flawlessly innocuous entertainment for kids.
50
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.
50
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.
50
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.
50
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.
42
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Cloddish, unfunny dud.
40
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.
40
The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Rechtshaffen
Unlike that widely appealing picture with the giant green ogre, this one's strictly for the kiddies.
40
TV Guide
Angel Cohn
The CGI is well-done, but Garfield's presence among the otherwise live cast is a constant distraction.
40
Empire
Jo Berry
Cute and friendly enough, but for anyone over eight, not recommended.
38
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.
38
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The filmmakers find "laughs" in sadistic violence.
30
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.
30
Variety
Joe Leydon
Only very small children still easily impressed by interaction of human actors and CGI quadrupeds will be amused by Garfield.
30
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Bland, workmanlike and instantly forgettable.
30
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.
30
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.
30
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
The cat is computer-generated, as are his one-liners.
25
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.
25
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.
25
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?
25
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.
25
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.
25
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.
25
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.
20
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.
20
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.
10
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.
0
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Garfield is a downright cat-astrophe.
0
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.
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