Good Live-Action Cat Movies Do Exist

In his 2017 video review of Nine Lives (which is no longer on his YouTube channel but still exists on Dailymotion), Ralph Sepe Jr., otherwise known as ralphthemoviemaker, poses a challenge to his audience. “Name a good cat movie. You can’t do it, right?” He goes on to claim cats are too boring to carry movies the way dogs do.

Despite Sepe’s wide range of cinematic knowledge, his remarks reveal a feline-shaped gap in his film education. Live cats—not CGI abominations—have played central roles in a number of acclaimed movies, some of which may even qualify as classics.

Perhaps the best example is Harry and Tonto, a dramedy about a displaced old man who goes on a cross-country journey with his beloved cat. Starring Art Carney as Harry and a couple of orange tabbies as Tonto, the film is every bit as funny and poignant as the best dog flicks. At the Tokyo premiere, the audience reportedly cried so hard during the title characters’ final scene together that they drowned out the remainder of the film’s dialogue. Director Paul Mazursky attributed this to Japan’s great love of cats.

Carney’s performance netted him an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. While already an impressive feat, it becomes even more remarkable when one learns how the odds were stacked against him. Harry and Tonto was released in 1974, meaning Carney’s Best Actor competition consisted of Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express, Dustin Hoffman in Lenny, Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, and Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II. This speaks volumes about Carney’s screen presence and his remarkable chemistry with his feline co-stars—not to mention his willingness to be surrounded by pieces of liver, which were used to coax the cats into cuddling with him. (The primary cat who played Tonto also won the PATSY Award, an animal equivalent of an Oscar.)

The “man and his cat” subgenre gained a more recent entry with 2013’s criminally underrated Inside Llewyn Davis, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen (the former of whom Bill Murray allegedly confused with Joel Cohen when he agreed to star in Garfield). This period flick’s basic premise pays homage to Harry and Tonto—the cat is even an orange tabby—but its tone is decidedly more cynical, though not without its heartfelt moments. Oscar Isaac gives a nuanced portrayal of a down-on-his-luck Greenwich Village musician traveling with a feline companion over the course of a week in 1961. While the human protagonist struggles with grief over the death of his music partner, the cat’s own bizarre journey serves as an allegory for Llewyn’s troubled life and his tendency to end up back in the same place no matter what he does.              

Cats can also make excellent documentary subjects, as in Ceyda Torun’s 2016 film Kedi. Set in Istanbul, the film utilizes a camera mounted on a remote-controlled car to follow members of the ancient city’s stray domestic cat population as they go about their daily lives. The cats’ relationships with the human inhabitants who feed and care for them are at the heart of the film. Regarding the supposedly aloof nature of felines, one resident states, “Dogs think people are God, but cats don’t. Cats are aware of God’s existence. Cats know that people act as middlemen to God’s will. They’re not ungrateful—they just know better.”

Even when cats aren’t the main focus of a movie, the inclusion of one in a pivotal scene can elevate said movie to a higher plane of greatness. While Sigourney Weaver is the undisputed breakout star of Alien, Jonesy the cat also turns in an iconic performance with some enforced method acting. In contrast, Buttercup from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2 remains impressively calm as Jennifer Lawrence screams at him.

Cats may not follow orders blindly, if at all, but there’s no doubt they’re capable of putting on a show. You can’t spell “act” without c, a, and t.