Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie''s plot.  
I grew up reading Dr. Seuss. Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Cat in the Hat were some of my favorite books. When Ron Howard directed How the Grinch Stole Christmas back in 2000, I was so excited. It was like seeing a childhood fantasy coming to life with Whoville and everything. That movie was so excellent. It was true to the original story and the acting, special effects, costumes, everything was incredible. It was like a page from the book. When Bo Welch decided to direct a movie version of The Cat in the Hat, I was equally excited. I guess I just thought that this movie would be as good as the Grinch, but unfortunately, it wasn't. This movie does not even come close to being half as good as How the Grinch Stole Christmas was. In fact, it was just one big disappointment from the start.  
 
Mike Myers stars as that lovable Cat who comes to make trouble while Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad's (Spencer Breslin) mother (Kelly Preston) is out. Their mom is at work under pressure from her boss Mr. Humberfloob (Sean Hayes, who created the voice of the Fish) to throw a perfect dinner party that night; otherwise, she will be F-I-R-E-D. When she receives a call that Conrad and Sally are causing trouble, she must make a quick trip home where the audience is then introduced to her boyfriend and neighbor, Quinn (Alec Baldwin). Quinn has secret designs to send Conrad to military school and the kids must therefore find some way to expose him before their mom decides to get married. Enter Mrs. Kwan (Amy Hill): the babysitter who loves to sleep. It starts raining, Conrad and Sally have been fighting, they hear a loud noise, go to see what it is, and discover an oversized cat. Cat promises them a fun-filled day where nothing will go wrong; he even has them sign a contract. Little do Conrad and Sally know that Cat will only create many more problems for them with the use of his mysterious hat, including making their fish talk, destroying their house, and basically ruining their lives. But of course, every Dr. Seuss story has its moral and its happy ending. Conrad and Sally learn that they really love each other and should cooperate more with their mom.  
 
It's not the acting that makes this movie bad. In fact, the acting is the only saving grace of this film. Alec Baldwin is perfect as the nosy, two-faced neighbor who only has designs on Conrad and Sally's mom. The way he seems so sweet one minute and like the biggest villain the next, will have you loving him one minute and hating him the next. Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin are both precious as the bickering sister and brother. Sally doesn't know how to have fun and Conrad only knows how to have fun. They are at the two extremes of the fun scale and have to find their way to the middle. Mike Myers is perfect as Cat. He's hilarious. There is just something about the way he says his lines that makes them so funny.  
 
It's just everything else about the film that is wrong. First, I'll start with the screenplay. This is such a classic children's book and yet Alec Berg's screenplay demolishes it. The movie changed things that were in the book and added some stuff that was never in there to begin with and didn't help the movie. I especially didn't like the fact that there seem to be a couple of sexual innuendos unappropriate for children and completely unnecessary in the film. The make-up wasn't too good either. The costume and make-up of Cat look so fake that it's not even funny. I know that it would be rather difficult to do make-up to make Mike Myers look like a cat, but honestly, they could have done a little bit better than they did. The Grinch was a completely fake creature, yet Jim Carrey looked perfect in that movie. The setting wasn't exactly what I had envisioned either. It didn't look like it had just "leapt" out of the book.  
 
Overall, I think little kids will like the movie. They won't know any different. Adults and anyone who has ever read the book won't be that impressed. I would highly recommend a different movie, such as Elf, if you're looking for a family movie that everyone will love. Wait to get this movie for the kids when it comes out on video, it's not really worth seeing in theaters.  
 
 
