Cat's Meow, The (2001)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Extremely well acted and marvelously directed drama tells the story of the legendary producer Thomas Ince (Cary Elwes) who boarded a ship owned by Willam Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrmann) and a couple days later was dead. While there are various reports as to what happened, this film follows the most talked about which is that Ince informed Hearst that his girlfriend Marion Davies (Kirsten Dunst) was having an affair with Charles Chaplin (Eddie Izzard). Later that night, in a rage, Hearst went to kill Chaplin but instead shot Ince in the back of the head. I'm sure many people have heard this story but director Bogdanovich has done a marvelous job at putting the story into a film and deliver something that is quite intense but at the same time it will also get your blood boiling. The director was a personal friend of Orson Welles and considering Hearst pretty much ended his career, I'm sure Bogdanovich was happy to show Hearst as a evil S.O.B. and that's pretty much what happens here. The entire movie isn't a hate piece aimed at Hearst because most of the time the director is taking a look at the power of not only Hearst but the media in general as well as Hollywood. The opening sequence showing everyone arriving was great fun as we get to hear the Hollywood gossip, which a lot focuses on Chaplin and his recent film, THE WOMAN OF Paris, and people joking about it bombing due to him not playing a part in it. There's also a lot of goofing on him in regards to THE GOLD RUSH costing so much money and him getting the 16-year-old star pregnant. This type of stuff was great fun to hear. In the end we see Hearst using his power to keep everyone quiet and to pay off Louella Parsons (Jennifer Tilly) who would eventually get a lifetime contract by Hearst. These scenes will certainly get your blood boiling and you can't help but feel a strong hatred for Hearst and a certain sadness for his mistress. The performances are all quite remarkable with Herrmann really standing out as the media magnet. Dunst and Elwes are also quite good as is Izzard in the role of Chaplin even though he doesn't come close to Robert Downey, Jr.'s performance in CHAPLIN. The entire look of the film from the sets to the costume design are wonderful and everything is brought together perfectly by Bogdanovich. Seeing this wonderful gem just makes you rather sad that he hasn't been able to make more films over the past couple decades because he's clearly very talented.
