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"GARFIELD: THE MOVIE" (2004) (Breckin Meyer, voice of Bill Murray) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons None None Heavy *Mild None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None Mild None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild None None Mild Mild QUICK TAKE: Comedy: A sardonic cat overcomes his lazy and lackadaisical demeanor and lifestyle to find and rescue his human owner's new dog. PLOT: Garfield (voice of BILL MURRAY) is a fat, lazy and sardonic housecat whose only interests are his stuffed toy, lasagna, TV and whether his human owner, Jon Arbuckle (BRECKIN MEYER), will remember to feed him. He has the perfect life, even putting up with Jon's attraction to local veterinarian Liz Wilson (JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT), who's known him since high school. Yet, things change when Liz gives Jon Odie, a playful but dim dog. Garfield can't believe it and does everything he can to put the pooch in his place. He ends up locking Odie outside, prompting the pooch to run off and get lost. Having seen the dog at a pet talent show and needing a gimmick to further his career, local TV host Happy Chapman (STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY) claims that Odie is his and prepares to move to the big city. Seeing how upset that Jon is over the missing pooch, Garfield then overcomes his laziness and lackadaisical attitude and sets out to find and rescue the dog. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? I'd imagine some younger kids will want to, but older ones will likely keep their distance from this one. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For brief mild language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: GARFIELD is a fat, lazy and sardonic housecat who's only concerned about himself and thus isn't pleased when Jon brings home Odie. It's only after the dog ends up missing that he sets out to find and rescue him. BRECKIN MEYER plays his milquetoast human owner who can barely muster the courage to ask out Liz. JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT plays the veterinarian who also likes Jon and ends up seeing him. STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY plays a local TV personality who claims Odie, who's run off and gotten lost, to be his. Wanting to use the dog as his gimmick, he plans to take him to the big city and uses a shock collar on him. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this comedy aimed at young kids that's been rated PG. Profanity consists of 1 minor expletive, while various colorful phrases are also uttered. Some scantly clad women are briefly seen in a music video on TV, while one line of dialogue is a joking reference about an alternate lifestyle (based on leather attire on an animal). Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while a few scenes might be tense or suspenseful to very young viewers. Some imitative behavior and slapstick style material are present, while some animal characters push or strike others and a shock collar is used to zap a dog and then the responsible human. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. The film is preceded by a computer animated short that may or may not appear with the film when you see it. Entitled "Gone Nutty" it features the prehistoric squirrel from the movie "Ice Age" once again having trials and tribulations with acorns. During the short, many acorns slam into him, he falls a long way and lands hard in the snow, and a flaming acorn slams into him as he tries to extract himself from the snow (all played for laughs). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE None. BLOOD/GORE None. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Garfield takes a freshly baked pie from another house. Garfield is sarcastic, jealous and not happy that he must share Jon and the house with Odie. He also pushes him around and then locks him outside at night (after the dog came to cuddle up with him). He does, however, eventually change his ways, apologize and then set out to rescue the pooch. Some viewers might not like Garfield using the expression "You must be touched in the head." Happy lies and states that Odie is his lost dog (to a woman who put up a flier) for his own career gain. Happy brings out a high voltage collar to be used on Odie (another person comments on it being inhuman). He does then use it on him. Some viewers might not like Garfield making a prison suicide joke by asking an animal control guard for some shoe laces while he's behind bars. FRIGHTENING SCENES Happy brings out a high voltage collar to be used on Odie (another person comments on it being inhuman). He does then use it on him. Some talking rats approach Garfield with the intent of eating him, but Garfield's mouse friend makes them go away. Some cars nearly hit Garfield as he tries to cross the street. Garfield controls various train track switches and nearly causes some trains to collide (we hear collision warnings going off), but he shuts down the system just in time. After Garfield jumps on Happy's arm, the man flings the cat aside. Various animals, however, come to Garfield's aid and menacingly approach Happy (some growling and baring their teeth). We then see the shadow of various dogs jumping on and/or attacking Happy, but later see that he's okay. GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "I hate Mondays," "That just ain't gonna fly," "Got milk?" "Fat cat," "Kiss my (???)" (we didn't catch the last word), "You toad," "Hopeless loser" (said by Garfield as he holds his "fingers" up to his head in the shape of an "L"), "You're so sad," "What are you looking at, tick-boy?" "Chick magnet," "He's a nut," "Stupid gone wild," "Pop a worm pill and hit the road," "It's called my claws in your butt game," "Pipsqueak," "(You) Imbecile," "I think I'm going to blow cat chow chunks," "Oh, you little suck up," "You idiot," "You must be touched in the head," "That cat is such a pig," "Jerks," "Schmuck," "Keep walking, creepo," "You're a major league suck-up" and "That's my idiot brother." Garfield flushes the toilet so that Jon is hit by a change in water temperature in the shower. Garfield lets out a loud belch and does so again several more times in the film. After one such instance, he states that's a sign that the tank is full. Garfield keeps repeating, "Are we there yet?" as he and a mouse make their way toward a building. Happy uses a shock collar to zap Odie and make him do a flip. Later, and when seeing that the shock collar is now around Happy's neck, Garfield uses the remote to zap Happy, sending him falling to the floor. Odie then uses it to zap him as well Garfield "surfs" down a stairwell and its rails on a lunch tray. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A mild amount of suspenseful and action-oriented music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 damn and 1 use of "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY We briefly see a young woman in a short skirt dancing in a music video and then see her or another young woman doing the same in very small and tight shorts. After seeing Odie on TV dressed in what he states are lederhosen, Garfield jokes about the dog finding an alternate lifestyle. We see Liz in a short and tight-fitting dress. Jon and Liz share a several second kiss. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES None. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT How animals view their human owners. Happy brings out a high voltage collar to be used on Odie (another person comments on it being inhuman). He does then use it on him. VIOLENCE Jon takes a slapstick fall while chasing a mouse. Garfield hits his head on a closed door. Garfield pushes Odie backwards. He then apparently hits or swipes at him with his claws (we see the dog jump up and off a chair). Garfield lands hard on the ground and a bucket then falls on him. Garfield repeatedly pushes Odie from a chair, with Odie then knocking Garfield from it. Garfield then uses a pillow to smack Odie across the room. Garfield pushes Odie aside. As Liz steps on the brakes in her truck, Garfield shoots forward in the bed and slams into the back glass. After Garfield climbs up a woman's dress to avoid dogs that are after him, she runs amok and knocks over various people. After knocking a ball aside in anger, Garfield accidentally sets a chain reaction in motion that knocks various things around and down in Jon's house. Garfield is blown through a building's vent shaft, bumping and bouncing his way until we see the outside of the shaft that's bent outwards in the shape of his head. Happy uses a shock collar to zap Odie and make him do a flip. Garfield falls a long way from a building, landing on and blasting through the roof of a truck but otherwise safely landing in piles of lasagna. After Garfield jumps on Happy's arm, the man flings the cat aside. Various animals, however, come to Garfield's aid and menacingly approach Happy (some growling and baring their teeth). We then see the shadow of various dogs jumping on and/or attacking Happy, but later see that he's okay. Seeing that the above shock collar is now around Happy's neck, Garfield uses the remote to zap Happy, sending him falling to the floor. Odie then uses it to zap him as well, causing him to flip over. Jon then arrives and punches Happy in the face (for stealing his dog), sending him to the floor. Garfield repeatedly pushes Odie off his chair. Reviewed June 5, 2004 / Posted June 11, 2004

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