Posted: 01/15/2003

P.S. Your Cat Is Dead

(2003)

by Parama Chaudhury

Actor-turned writer is having a horrible New Year’s Eve. His girlfriend is sleeping around, his best friend just died, his soon-to-be-demolished apartment has been robbed twice, his one-man show closed after one performance, and his cat has just died. ’80s popular actor Steve Gutenberg brings an ’80s hit stage play to the screen and does a damned good job of it.

At first glance, the name of this film seemed a little too gimmicky for me. Couple that with the fact that it is directed by 80’s comedy star Steve Guttenberg, and you see why I expected it to be the usual confused and confusing first-time fare served up by actor-directors. Denzel Washington channeled his intense acting energy into a sob story this past year, and I anticipated a ham-handed effort at situation comedy by Guttenberg. So I was pleasantly surprised that while it is no masterpiece, P.S. Your Cat is Dead is an entertaining movie, and well worth your Blockbuster rental dollars.

Guttenberg stars in his directorial debut as Jimmy Zoole, a struggling writer-actor, who is having one bad New Year’s Eve. His girlfriend seems to have all but dumped him, someone stole his manuscript, his life’s work, and his wealthy aunt and benefactor is tightening the screws on him. In the midst of all of this, Zoole discovers a burglar in his house and decides to take him hostage, hog-tying him to the kitchen counter. After a little bit of this and a little bit of that, a friendship starts to blossom between the burglar, Eddie and his captor. Based on a play by the late James Kirkwood, P.S. is chockfull of good ideas, and the strength of the original writing helps the film to no small extent. Unfortunately, since the focus is narrow and concentrated, the actor who plays Zoole bears the burden of holding your attention and extracting your empathy. Guttenberg tries his best, but slips into a caricature all too often.

The single best thing about P.S. is probably Lombardo Boyar, who plays Eddie. His only job is to act as a foil for the desperate Zoole, but Boyar gets more mileage out of his screen time than anyone else in the cast. We see him face down on the kitchen counter for most of the film, but even with severely restricted movement, Boyar manages to construct a solid flesh-and-bones character, who entertains us throughout the movie. It is sometimes hard to understand Eddie’s reactions: Why, for example, does he try to provoke Zoole when he is first tied up, even though for all he knows, Zoole might be a Hannibal Lecter fan? Later on, when Eddie claims he needs to relieve himself and Zoole approaches him with a pair of scissors, the burglar does betray a reasonable amount of panic. But for the most part, it seems as if Eddie knows from the start that he will end up friends with his jailer, a feeling which drains the situation of a great deal of drama. Despite this problem with the script, Boyar manages to make Eddie an almost-attractive character who more often than not, steals the scene.

The rest of the cast perform creditably. Cynthia Watros, of TV’s Titus and more recently, The Drew Carey Show, plays Zoole’s soon-to-be-ex girlfriend, Kate. She cares about Zoole, but at the same time, is too annoyed with his antics to consider staying with him. The interaction between Zoole and Kate have the flavor of a classic Woody Allen relationship, but Guttenberg’s performance is somehow not sufficiently committed to the level of neuroticism required. The good thing about most of the sequences in the film is that any betrayal of sentiment is kept under check. Whenever Kate seems to be weakening a little, Zoole says something that drives her over the edge. When Eddie reminisces about his wife and daughter, “crazy” Carmine and his hoodlum buddies make an entrance. The Carmine sequence, again, could have gone overboard, but A.J. Benza’s performance as Carmine, Boyar’s restrained acting and the quick tempo of the scene keep it nice and tight. With a sentimental bottom line—the lonely find comfort in the most unexpected of places—it is easy to lose control and descend into a pit of schmaltz. Guttenberg’s achievement as a director is that he manages to highlight some of the lighter parts of the plot and to temper the saccharine with a little bit of vinegar.

There are a couple of things that can save a movie like this, which seems dangerously vulnerable to inanity and inconsequence. P.S. is, indeed, salvaged by one of those things: the music. Dean Grisfelder and Michael Sembello construct a perfect jazzy score that ties together the different plots in Jimmy Zoole’s life, and creates a feeling of time passing slowly, an quality which is essential in a movie about desperation and loneliness. P.S. ends with a rendition of “Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Culture Club, an oddly fitting conclusion to a movie directed by an 80’s star. Despite some slip-ups, Guttenberg has done a decent job of delivering a small, enjoyable movie. P.S. might not be at the top of your to-see list in this season of Oscar-worthy mega-movies, but it is entertaining enough to warrant a rental. For all of us have had those days when we’re feeling like we’re at the bottom of the barrel, and are looking around for someone even lower than us, even if that means taking prisoners.

Parama Chaudhury is a graduate student, an ex-writing instructor and a budding freelance writer based in New York City.

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