A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM BOB
***
Director: Charles Martin Smith
Screenwriter: Garry Jenkins
Principal cast:
Luke Treadaway
Bob the Cat
Kristina Tonteri-Young
Phaldut Sharma
Tim Plester
Aretha Ayeh
Country: UK
Classification: PG
Runtime: 92 mins.
Australian release date: 3 December 2020.
A Christmas-themed follow-up to A Street Cat Named Bob, this is quite a departure from the gritty and authentic depiction of life on the streets of London when you’re homeless and addicted to heroin that we saw in the initial movie. A Christmas Gift From Bob is written by Gary Jenkins, who ghost-wrote the original book with former The Big Issue seller James Bowen, but didn’t write the first film’s screenplay. It told the true story of how a stray ginger cat changed the life of Bowen (Luke Treadaway), a homeless busker and recovering drug addict. This sequel is Jenkins’ debut effort as a scriptwriter and it shows; the dialogue lacks spark (Bowen says little much of the time) and the plot is slim. Regrettably, the whole film feels like a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of the first when audiences are feeling a bit Christmassy.
Fortunately, Bob the Cat (playing himself) is, as usual, adorable and he is central to the plot of A Christmas Gift From Bob. The film opens with Bowen being feted at his publisher’s end-of-year party after the success of his book, but he is facing writer’s block due to the pressure of producing his next work. A chance encounter with a homeless guy being bullied by security guards is the incentive for him to get back on track. He buys the young man a burger and begins telling him the story of his previous Christmas, before fame changed his life. At that time, he was still struggling with living costs as he tried to make ends meet through his busking and selling The Big Issue. He has also befriended a young woman, Bea (Kristina Tonteri-Young), who works at a food distribution centre. She is incredibly supportive and arranges for Bowen to get Bob a free veterinary consultation when Bob gets a cut. Not long after though, Bowen finds himself being investigated by animal inspectors, who are concerned that Bob isn’t getting a suitable level of care. Facing the realisation that he may lose Bob causes him to reassess his existence - his friend Moody (Phaldut Sharma) tells him that one must never let one’s future be weighed down by one’s past but he also acknowledges that when you look after someone, or something, your life has purpose. Confronted by these conflicting ideas, Bowen is forced to decide whether Bob would be better off without him.
The American actor/director Charles Martin Smith seems to have a penchant for films involving animals ever since he starred in Walt Disney Studio’s Never Cry Wolf in 1983. Since then he’s directed Air Bud, Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2, plus last year’s A Dog’s Way Home. A Christmas Gift From Bob has its moments but doesn’t tug on the same strings as those titles. While it successfully shows the anxiety of living on the breadline, which is pretty hard in the middle of an English winter, it is rather slight otherwise. Treadaway’s almost monosyllabic performance is wearying; the poor guy is given little to say and even when something positive happens to him he barely reacts. His character is remote and underwritten. An insipid score makes things even drearier.
It remains to be seen if there will be another instalment in the life of Bob the Cat but, judging by what is on display here, it might be better to leave these films as his legacy because, sadly, the real Bob passed away in June 2020. Upon his cat’s passing, Bowen said, “Bob saved my life. It’s as simple as that. He gave me so much more than companionship. With him at my side, I found a direction and purpose that I’d been missing. The success we achieved together through our books and films was miraculous. He’s met thousands of people, touched millions of lives. There’s never been a cat like him. And never will again. I feel like the light has gone out in my life. I will never forget him.”
Screenwriter: Garry Jenkins
Principal cast:
Luke Treadaway
Bob the Cat
Kristina Tonteri-Young
Phaldut Sharma
Tim Plester
Aretha Ayeh
Country: UK
Classification: PG
Runtime: 92 mins.
Australian release date: 3 December 2020.
A Christmas-themed follow-up to A Street Cat Named Bob, this is quite a departure from the gritty and authentic depiction of life on the streets of London when you’re homeless and addicted to heroin that we saw in the initial movie. A Christmas Gift From Bob is written by Gary Jenkins, who ghost-wrote the original book with former The Big Issue seller James Bowen, but didn’t write the first film’s screenplay. It told the true story of how a stray ginger cat changed the life of Bowen (Luke Treadaway), a homeless busker and recovering drug addict. This sequel is Jenkins’ debut effort as a scriptwriter and it shows; the dialogue lacks spark (Bowen says little much of the time) and the plot is slim. Regrettably, the whole film feels like a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of the first when audiences are feeling a bit Christmassy.
Fortunately, Bob the Cat (playing himself) is, as usual, adorable and he is central to the plot of A Christmas Gift From Bob. The film opens with Bowen being feted at his publisher’s end-of-year party after the success of his book, but he is facing writer’s block due to the pressure of producing his next work. A chance encounter with a homeless guy being bullied by security guards is the incentive for him to get back on track. He buys the young man a burger and begins telling him the story of his previous Christmas, before fame changed his life. At that time, he was still struggling with living costs as he tried to make ends meet through his busking and selling The Big Issue. He has also befriended a young woman, Bea (Kristina Tonteri-Young), who works at a food distribution centre. She is incredibly supportive and arranges for Bowen to get Bob a free veterinary consultation when Bob gets a cut. Not long after though, Bowen finds himself being investigated by animal inspectors, who are concerned that Bob isn’t getting a suitable level of care. Facing the realisation that he may lose Bob causes him to reassess his existence - his friend Moody (Phaldut Sharma) tells him that one must never let one’s future be weighed down by one’s past but he also acknowledges that when you look after someone, or something, your life has purpose. Confronted by these conflicting ideas, Bowen is forced to decide whether Bob would be better off without him.
The American actor/director Charles Martin Smith seems to have a penchant for films involving animals ever since he starred in Walt Disney Studio’s Never Cry Wolf in 1983. Since then he’s directed Air Bud, Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2, plus last year’s A Dog’s Way Home. A Christmas Gift From Bob has its moments but doesn’t tug on the same strings as those titles. While it successfully shows the anxiety of living on the breadline, which is pretty hard in the middle of an English winter, it is rather slight otherwise. Treadaway’s almost monosyllabic performance is wearying; the poor guy is given little to say and even when something positive happens to him he barely reacts. His character is remote and underwritten. An insipid score makes things even drearier.
It remains to be seen if there will be another instalment in the life of Bob the Cat but, judging by what is on display here, it might be better to leave these films as his legacy because, sadly, the real Bob passed away in June 2020. Upon his cat’s passing, Bowen said, “Bob saved my life. It’s as simple as that. He gave me so much more than companionship. With him at my side, I found a direction and purpose that I’d been missing. The success we achieved together through our books and films was miraculous. He’s met thousands of people, touched millions of lives. There’s never been a cat like him. And never will again. I feel like the light has gone out in my life. I will never forget him.”