DVD Review: Ghost Cat (2003)

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AKA Mrs. Ashboro's Cat

Having seen the risk-taking Ellen Page prior to Juno in various Canadian productions including the Film Movement selections Marion Bridge, Wilby Wonderful and the USA release of the cult revenge shocker Hard Candy, when it came time to screen this title originally produced in 2003, I wasn't sure what to expect. Obviously post-Juno, everyone ascertained that she could definitely act but her choices in material have been peculiar to say the least to the point that when I read that a genuine family feature starring Page was heading to DVD, I immediately accepted without reading another word.

And although she's far from happy-go-lucky, in this picture I was struck by Page's natural ability to adapt to material as a refreshingly unaffected teen playing a refreshingly unaffected teen. A far cry from the subject matter of Bridge, Wilby, Candy, The Tracey Fragments and even Juno-- in this wholesome family-friendly Canadian production originally broadcast on Cable TV's Animal Planet channel-- Page plays a fourteen year old New York City girl still reeling from the death of her mother one year earlier.

Releasing in time for not only the future release of Page's latest turn in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It but also Halloween, the work that's been repackaged complete with a catchier title than the K-6 reading material sounding Mrs. Ashboro's Cat hits DVD shelves this week courtesy of Barnholtz Entertainment and North American Motion Pictures. Yet despite the memorable moniker of Ghost Cat, the film is a bit tricky to sum up so it may have been much easier to just say Mrs. Ashboro's Cat since it centers on the dead cat of the dead Ashboro whom Page sees throughout the film.

Solid production values and a fine ensemble cast try to enliven the sluggishly paced supernatural mystery that finds Page's Natalie and her author father relocating to the Canadian small community where her mother was born and raised. While her skeptical ghost debunking dad spends his time researching material for his book on scientific and logical reasoning for unexplainable phenomena, Natalie finds herself in the middle of a thematically similar situation when she's haunted by visions of a deceased cat. Yet far from being like Pet Sematary, Natalie realizes that the ghost cat Margaret is trying to communicate with her to carry on the wishes of her former owner who'd passed away one day before her devoted cat did the same (sort of like an elderly couple you read about in the paper who perish out of a broken, lonely heart).

Although nobody believes Natalie's vision of the cat save for two new male friends (including one romantic interest), she's a serious young girl who trusts her convictions and connection with the animal she'd initially encountered around the same time as she'd met the now deceased Mrs. Ashboro upon their arrival. And since her first impressions of both coincided with meeting the woman's greedy nephew who planned to sell her home out from underneath Ashboro without her knowledge and send her to a retirement home, Natalie is determined to find out exactly what's going on.

The handling of the material tries to go for a light ghost story aura but remains serious and largely hapless throughout where Harriet the Spy, Nancy Drew and/or Kit Kittredge humor and whimsy would've no doubt made it all the more enjoyable as well as help engage us with the admittedly dubious set-up. Still, despite it's shortcomings, it's a benign time waster. Moreover, just as her maturity seemed apparently instinctual in Juno, Page-- almost like a young Jodie Foster (minus the humor of Freaky Friday)-- manages to fully inhabit the role. And in this regard, we never doubt her vision, even if we wish the script would've done a bit more to lighten up the tone since the backdrop of death and unfinished business needed it sorely to make it a bit more appealing to the pre-Twilight demographic.

Overall, the film is much better than I expected it would be as the type of early piece of work that “haunts” celebrities after they strike Oscar nominated gold or ample entertainment headline buzz. Nonetheless it's a still a lukewarm hybrid of a family animal ghost story that would probably only interest devotees of the likable Ellen Page who, much like Freaky Friday's Foster or Twilight's Kristen Stewart had done some truly impressive work (even in unimpressive projects) before flying onto our radar in Juno.

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Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)

After his hypoglycemia left him falling asleep just inches away from reaching the finishing line of the New Jersey Police Academy obstacle course, Paul Blart (Kevin James) decided that the next best thing to carrying a badge and gun was carrying a badge and riding a segway as a ten year veteran in the security department at a New Jersey suburban mall.

Still opting for the same cop stereotypes of the tough guy retro '80s mustache and chewing way too much gum at any given moment-- to say that Blart takes his job seriously would be an understatement. If there's a scuffle in a Victoria's Secret--although he refuses to hit a woman-- he'll jump right in the mix, threatening to make a citizen's arrest which isn't exactly effective as technically a citizen has the exact same right.

When he isn't writing reports about how to best ease the shopper foot traffic from Macy's to the specialty stores by circumnavigating people away from the busy food court, he's trying his hardest to flirt with a beautiful kiosk employee named Amy (Jayma Mays) who senses his sweet side despite a rather bizarre early impression when he crashed his segway directly into a van while scoping her out.

Of course, given that his competition is a pen-selling creep who's overly fond of man-jewelry, we realize that anyone else, especially the earnest Blart would be a vast improvement. And despite his battles with his hefty weight, fondness for comfort foods along with never encountering a nacho eating contest he didn't want to enter in jest with his favorite coworker, James is essentially playing an Ernest Borgnine styled Marty character who, having been dumped by his previous illegal immigrant wife who'd married him for citizenship, remains a devoted son (to Shirley Knight) and father (to Raini Rodriguez).

However, following a hectic day of record breaking Black Friday sales, the mall is held up Bad Santa style by a group of criminals all eager to secure the credit card codes from various stores. Although he usually avoids the same type of time-suckage favored by his cohorts, when locking up the arcade that even, James lets out with a wailing version of "Detroit Rock City" on Rock Band, before he begins trying to use a friend's daughter's cell phone whose decidedly non-Blart ring-tone Rasheeda's "My Bubblegum" provides the most cell phone laughs since McConaughey's was set to "Sometimes When We Touch" when his character was called by Stiller in Tropic Thunder.

But I digress and back to Blart-- when the mall is cleared out save for a few hostages in the bank, including Amy and later James's own daughter, Blart gets his opportunity to become the mall cop version of Die Hard's John McClaine and Stallone's Rambo by trying to outmaneuver the athletic and acrobatic team of villains, played by extreme sports icons.

While James is surprisingly good at his pratfalls as he slides, dives, flips and maneuvers into a variety of slapstick friendly situations (making the reliance for comedy in the film ultimately upon physical instead of verbal jokes), the group he's up against are all pros including some renowned record holders and award winners such as skateboarders Mike Valley (aka Mike V) and Jason Ellis, BMX gikers Mike Escamilla (aka Rooftop) and Rick Thorne and free runners Victor Lopez and Natascha Hopkins.

While James makes a likable hero and believable everyman-- the success of which was proven on his long-running CBS sitcom The King of Queens-- and producer Adam Sandler's Happy Madison productions decided to invest in that quality following their collaboration in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, mostly Blart works as a mildly amusing roughly ninety minute diversion.

A nice change of pace to experience a genuinely PG rated comedy which appealed to Daddy Day Care director Steve Carr who appreciated the fact that the film "was family accessible but not aimed specifically at a kids audience," while ultimately it seems like it would've played better during the holiday season of '08 to tie the events in with its release, the gentle small screen approach of the film keeps you entertained. Even though, admittedly you realize that it could've used a few more rewrites to step up the comedic mine-field that was waiting just based on the title alone.