Catfight

Raaaaaaaooooh! Yes, there is a "Catfight" going on (even more than one), and it lasts a long time. The black & blue comedy "Catfight" stars Sandra Oh and Anne Heche as two former college frenemies who reunite and end up knocking the lights out of each other. Sandra Oh plays Veronica, a trophy wife who is against her teenage son's wishes of becoming an artist. Anne Heche plays Ashley, a struggling lesbian artist who moonlights as a caterer. When Veronica and Ashley unexpectedly see each other at Veronica's husband business party, the claws come out and they both end up in some sort of violent punch drunk love; OK, maybe not love. Consequently, there is a punch domino effect of their brawl and brawls that turn each others life completely around; which I won't spoil cause you will punch me in the face. Writer-Director Onel Turkel pulls no punches in directing the movie with "over the top" farce; which sometimes pleasures your guilty bones while at other times it's too much to take. Nevertheless, I strangely was compelled by the antics of "Catfight"; especially with one particular scene with Veronica's looney aunt who names trees. Both Oh and Heche were excellent in their energetic roles. However, Alicia Silverstone as Ashley's lesbian lover seemed clueless to me. "Catfight" will not make it to 9 lives of reinvention but it's still worth the punch. **** Good

A weird and twisted character study of self absorbed, clueless narcissists ad nauseum.

I know, it's supposed to be a clever dark comedy, but having actually encountered more than a few examples of the very characters portrayed here in the real world, it was more like watching the equivalent of experiencing nails on a chalkboard.

I'm not knocking the film, or caliber of acting and direction, quite the contrary. As a film, it's actually a very well created production.

As a sort of snapshot into a world which really exists (well, sort of), perhaps it's a bit too realistic for comfort.

OK, the art gallery fight scene was more than a bit over the top.

Not to deliver any spoilers here, but perhaps an apt description could be summarized as a spectacular reversal of fortune story, mapped into a bizarre parallel universe of quirky characters and seemingly impossible scenarios which are actually all too real, depending upon which version of reality one might encounter at some seemingly random moment.

Not sure how to rate this, might not be for everyone, but it is definitely unique. A cautious seven stars . . .

Cat claws are joined by rock, brick, hammer, wrench, tire iron and more as a pair of self-important and toxic narcissists sink their fangs into each other. Ashley and Veronica are from opposite sides of the political spectrum yet both share an unquenchable hatred for anyone who attacks their image. Veronica (Sandra Oh) is a caustic and drunken gold digger married to a businessman making insane profits from a war in the Middle East. She encourages her son to be anything other than a useless artist. Ashley (Anne Heche) is a sadistic painter whose apocalyptic view of war tolerates no blasphemies, including and not limited to the "false color" blue. Her partner is a clueless snob who, like herself, rejects anything that isn't a carbon copy of her own fluctuating views. Ashley and Veronica are former college acquaintances, now in their forties, who meet at a party. Soon they enter into a bitter, knock- down and bone- crushing brawl in the stairwell. This won't be the only fight. In their all-consuming rivalry they risk losing everything. The heat of a fire consumes all the fuel and air before it dies.

Catfight is fueled by dark humor and a realistic portrayal of narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissists believe that money, success and power entitles them to treat others like trash. Yet narcissists are useful to the world because they see through all its fallacies (the greatest sinners make the best preachers). Ashley and Veronica are self-absorbed, have no empathy for others and treat their assistants more like servants and machines than persons. They are too broken to reveal their wounds to others though, which is why they never truly heal.

The violence in Catfight is really brutal and vastly different from other cinematic fight scenes. The female on female fighting is just one aspect that makes the fight scenes different. Other nuances include creative brawling tools and settings, compelling themes and characters, and great acting. Anne Heche and Sandra Oh are versatile, capable actors that are adept at this type of satire. Catfight's director, in the question and answer session after the film, said that Anne and Sandra had different, but equally effective, styles of preparing for the scenes. One actor was methodical in planning and preparation, and the other was energized by each passing moment. World premiere seen at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

The best thing about Catfight is that it offers a fairly unique and hard to find change of pace from many of the current crop of teen and young adult comedies.

Also on the plus side, it moves from a clearly satirical base into one of the most bizarre and (arguably) violent little feuds ever filmed (in the history of the medium) between two female characters who, presumably, should know better.

"Adults behaving badly" ... on steroids.

Which of course is its charm.

It also boasts performances from Heche and Oh which are not merely good but extraordinary. No matter how bizarre the character, no matter how over-stretched the script and dialog, these two actresses are fully committed to their portrayals.

It is the job of the reviewer to identify analogs of a story to better compare and contrast the production.

In the case of Catfight, this is not as easy as it looks.

While the overall plot can perhaps find resonances (for example) in something like Bad Santa 2003 (the first one, not the sequel) the overall tone and wickedness of the story, the complete disregard for anything resembling a normal dramatic narrative -- such as for example the over-utilization of "coma" as a continuity device? -- would require a trip back in time to the so-called experimental films of the 1960s.

Overall the final effect is remarkably like a car accident that attracts rubber-neckers, moreso than a cinematic breakthrough that attracts fans.

In other words, it is fun, novel, and interesting on first viewing. Something to tell your friends about.

But whether you would ever want to see another film just like it remains an open question.

This certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea but I quite enjoyed the sheer nihilistic futility of it all. Catfight is certainly original and takes on a narrative that keeps you guessing right to the end. There are some great digs at the pretentiousness of modern art and some gloriously violent fight scenes. You may hate it but it's definitely worth a try if you enjoy black comedy.