Gideon24 A romantic comedy that got by quite a few moviegoers during its original release, The Truth About Cats and Dogs is a 1996 comedy which could be considered a distaff re-thinking of Cyrano de Bergerac, not up to the quality of Steve Martin's Roxanne, but a fun and smart film that should have made a genuine movie star out of its leading lady.The film stars stand-up comedienne Janeane Garafalo as Abby, the host of the radio call-in show of the title, who almost simultaneously connects with a handsome dog owner named Brian (Ben Chaplin) who calls her show and a beautiful neighbor named Noelle (Uma Thurman) who has just escaped an abusive relationship. When Brian shows up at the radio station to thank Abby for the advice he gave her on the air, a frightfully insecure Abby asks Noelle to pretend to be Abby, but immediately regrets it when she realizes that Brian is sincerely smitten with Noelle's personality, which is really Abby's but Abby is scared that she will scare Brian off when he finds out she doesn't look like Noelle.This comedy sucks us in right from the beginning because the character of Abby is immensely likable and, as an observer to the goings-on, we don't understand Abby's insecurity about herself and we're certain she and Brian would be instant soul mates. However, the story aggravates as we realize that as much as he loves Abby's personality, he is also smitten by the package wrapped around it in Noelle. Even Noelle, not the brightest bulb in the row, realizes it is Abby that Brian wants but can't convince Abby to come clean.Audrey Well's screenplay is clever and serves its cast well. Garafalo is an absolute revelation in the role of Abby, her first leading screen role...sort of a Streisand for the 90's, the gal who may not be a raving beauty, but has enough brains and wit to make her looks seems not so important. Garafalo's performance here should have made her an instant movie star, but mysteriously, it didn't. Uma Thurman brings a substance to the role of the empty-headed Noelle that really isn't in the screenplay and Ben Chaplin is a very sexy leading man, a guy who thinks he's torn between two women, but really isn't. The scene where Garafalo and Chaplin have an all-night phone conversation is wonderful but further aggravates us as we wonder why Brian seems oblivious to the fact that the voice of radio Abby is different than the voice of Noelle/Abby and the fact that he accepts Abby's explanation that she uses a "radio voice" is kind of hard to swallow, but I digress. The film is funny and smart and kept me interested until the final reel because, refreshing for a contemporary film comedy, the ending isn't really foreshadowed. A romantic comedy with a one-of-a-kind lead character that will charm and endear her to you.

bigverybadtom A trite concept, admittedly, though the gender roles are reversed. A plain woman (Abby) wants to date a handsome man whom she assumes would reject him due to her appearance, so she has a pretty friend (Noelle) take her place, and the story resolves as expected.So how does this movie stand out? Abby is a radio host with a show about dealing with pets, and Noelle is an actress neighbor she meets by chance who has an abusive boyfriend. The man has fallen in love with Abby's radio voice and personality, but Abby is too afraid to meet him in person, though they are fine as long as they are only talking without him actually being able to see Abby. When the man meets Noelle, assuming she's Abby, he gets suspicious, but Abby is too afraid to reveal herself, and there are the expected complications from that.Animals are used in the story, but fortunately not overused so that they drown out the human story. The three main characters interact convincingly, and the story doesn't fall into the trap of screwball farce when it easily could have. Also, profanity and sexuality are kept to a minimum. Recommended.

copperncherrio A great chick flick that focuses on the realistically of a friendship more than a romance. This story follows two gals: one a sweet movie and another that has a face for radio. I have a few contentions with that… but first let's go over the movie. Our main character is a hosts a radio talk show about Animals. During which one of her callers asks her out.Freaked out and very insecure about her appearance she gets her neighbor the model (played by Uma Thurman) to pretend to be her during the meet. Obviously the movie turns into a series of tests of whether our Romeo loves the brains or the beauty.In this movie they emphasize how atrocious Janeane Garofalo looks, which is simply not the case. Other than being far shorter than Uma Thurman, Janeane is quite cute. So I didn't really take that as a legitimate plot issue. However, the movie had a sincerity to it that you just do not see now a days, therefore making it a good watch.

Framescourer I liked it but then I think I might have been ironing at the same time. This reworking of Cyrano de Bergerac/Roxanne is an utterly undemanding, formulaic romcom rescued from straight-to-video ignominy on its release by the sharp turn of Janeane Garofalo. Playing the Frasier of Pets, she finds herself caught in a love trap when insecurity leads her to pass her best friend (Uma Thurman) off as herself when a caller comes a-courtin'.This is an interesting film in the fascinating career of Ben Chaplin. An average British actor, he gave the Hollywood treadmill a shot with this film. He is unremarkable and his anonymity in studio productions is unsurprising on the basis of it, although he has appeared in substantial cameos in both the later Terence Malick films. Uma Thurman does a ditzy turn on autopilot and Michael Lehmann packages it all together competently. Icky phone sex though. 4/10