A Street Cat Named Bob

Roger Spottiswoode’s A Street Cat Named Bob is the film adaptation of James Bowen’s biography A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life. The film visualises Bowen’s progress of recovering from homelessness and drug addiction, helped when a stray ginger cat enters his life and, when publicly perched on his shoulders, gains him popularity as a street musician. Starring in the lead role as James Bowen is Luke Treadaway, whose character design has a humorous similarity to the real-life person (who makes a cameo), and even the original Bob the Cat plays as himself.

The acting is spot-on. Treadaway is a talented singer and portrays his character as likeable and relatable. Helping him along his way is Val (Joanne Froggatt) with a good deal of sympathy but not without some tough love, and the lovely Ruta Gedmintas playing the love interest Belle, the free-spirited animal lover. Anthony Head also joins the cast as Nigel, James Bowen’s father shown as compromised by family issues. All these characters are clearly defined and portrayed through naturalistic acting styles, helping the audience relate to them and sympathise with each of their situations. Bob is also a good actor and seems to take direction, but of course the role is going to be easy when you’re playing yourself.

The visual design of the settings depict the harsh lower class urban environments that homeless people endure in London but the colour grading is done in such a way that it refrains from giving the film an extreme miserable tone. One may ask if the film is perhaps a tad lighter than it should have been given its themes, although it still has its share of harsh and emotional moments. The style of cinematography is instantly noticeable. Often mounted camera shots are intercut with a lot of shaky cam close-ups. POVs from the cat’s perspective are common, possibly so the audience can project themselves onto the character – perhaps for the same reason Spielberg did a POV shot from the perspective of the shark in the opening shot of Jaws (1975), possibly. While there’s nothing necessarily the matter with the cinematography itself, the editing is quite chaotic even in low-tension scenes.

Hair, makeup and costumes play a subtle but integral role. Treadaway’s colourless and worn-out clothes, as well as the grey around his eyes and the yellow of his teeth, illustrates a contrast to Gedmintas’ character design, adopting several combinations of colourful clothes and different hairstyles with little hair colours.

A Street Cat Named Bob is a retelling of an emotional success story, not without moments of crisis, showing that a man and his furry friend can become the most meaningful of companions and improve each other’s lives. The reality presented in the environment and the naturalness of the actors’ performances, along with a little humour, manipulates the audience to sympathise and relate with the characters and the story. While the editing can lack structure, the mise-en-scène – including locations around London, which British audiences will likely recognise – is nicely done. If you have previously followed Bowen’s story in the news, or if you just like cats and buskers, this film will certainly appeal to you.