Based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by James Bowen and ghostwriter Garry Jenkins who has also penned biographies of Hollywood A-listers Harrison Ford and Daniel Day-Lewis, A Street Cat Named Bob is a heartwarming tale about a homeless drug addict who turns his life around following a chance encounter with a ginger tomcat called Bob.

The drama lacks peaks and troughs (the highpoint is a near miss with a black cab following a slo-mo dog-and-cat chase in Covent Garden) and given the nitty-gritty subject matter of addiction, homelessness and poverty there is more light than shade that you would expect from director Roger Spottiswoode and co-writers Tim John and Maria Nation (Bowen’s cold turkey period is condensed to a brief montage of writhing and staring), but the innocence of Bowen, the tenderness of his relationship with Bob and their combined efforts to make the most of their ninth lives is enough to melt the heart of Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Cat lovers will have kittens. Those of a non-pet disposition, like me, will purr with delight. And given its 12A rating, it definitely falls under the “one for all the family” category. Hence why Bowen’s rags to riches story has spawned a number of children’s picture books including My Name Is Bob and Bob To The Rescue. Though a word of warning to parents who are at a loss over what to get their kids for Christmas: Rita, Sue and Bob too is not part of the franchise!

Having the easy-on-the-eye and Olivier Award-winning Luke Treadaway in the leading role certainly adds to the film’s appeal. His slender frame and little-boy-lost eyes arouse the same “aw that’s cute” reaction as his feline friend curling up beside him in bed or nestling into the hood of his jacket as he wows the crowds with his heartfelt busking about the meaning of life and all that jazz in songs written by Noah And The Whale’s Charlie Fink.

And his hippy-chick – “I don’t believe in last names: patriarchal burdens” – neighbour-turned-girlfriend Belle (Ruta Gedmintas) adds to the glass half-full sentiment with her talk of being true to oneself and “everyone gets a second chance, but not everyone manages to take one.” But the moralising is thankfully in short supply. Albeit so are the darker and more complex areas of the real James Bowen’s life, which would have given the film more edge.

In the end, though, A Street Cat Named Bob is an unashamedly feel-good film about friendship and redemption. And given the “interesting times” in which we live, we could all be doing with a healthy dose of that!

Video courtesy of: Sony Pictures Releasing UK

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Peter Callaghan
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