In 2004, the cheerful, fat, funny cat Garfield, created by writer Jim Davis, migrated from comic books and animated series to the full-length film Garfield. Actors Jennifer Love Hewitt and Breckin Meyer starred, and Bill Murray, the star of Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, voiced Garfield's cat.
Filmmakers
The American actor, producer and musician Brekin Meyer, known to the public for supporting roles in the films "Stupid", "Kate and Leo", "Rat Race", was chosen by the production staff for the role of John Arbuckle - a naive and kind guy, who sometimes makes fun of him Garfield's own pet. Actors Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler auditioned for this role, but the producers considered that any of these Hollywood actors would distract the audience from the main character of the picture - Garfield.
Jennifer Garner was going to play Liz, the girl of the protagonist, but dropped out of the project.
Jennifer Love Hewitt after successful trials was approved for the main female role in the film "Garfield". Actors Brad Durif and Michael Ironside auditioned for the role of the main villain - Happy Chapman, but the role eventually got Steven Tobulowski.
The issue with the voice acting of Garfield was decided when the famous actor Bill Murray showed interest in the project. He voiced a funny red cat in both this film and the sequel, which was released two years later.
Peter Hewitt was in the director's chair, in whose career there were no deafeningly famous paintings. The largest and most famous of his projects at that time was the picture "Daughter Robin Hood" with Keira Knightley in the title role.
Plot
The life of the lazy red cat Garfield is easy and carefree - he watches TV all day, eats all sorts of goodies, sometimes steals milk from his neighbors and teases Doberman Luka. John, the owner of Garfield, does not have a soul in his pet.
But Garfield’s usual way of life is ruined by the appearance of Oddi, a puppy whom John took at the request of the veterinarian girl Liz to please her.
Garfield burns with jealousy, because the owner now devotes much less time to him - he plays with Oddi and meets with Liz. At the first opportunity, the cat gets rid of the opponent - at night he leaves Oddi on the street, and he goes to sleep. The puppy chased after a moped and got lost.
Garfield was initially very pleased with himself. But John is very worried about Oddi, to whom he has become very attached, and Garfield begins to torment his conscience. Forgetting his jealousy and contempt, he goes in search of a puppy. In the big city of Garfield, there are many dangers and funny adventures that he had never dreamed of before.
Reviews
The film was not praised by critics. It was noted that the picture was rather boring, and its only advantage was that it was absolutely harmless for children.
The actors who played in the film "Garfield" were not awarded any awards, which is not surprising with such a negative reaction from critics.
However, as often happens, viewers did not share the opinions of critics - they liked the film. In any case, on the Rotten Tomatoes website, Garfield got a higher than average rating, as on the websites of most other online cinemas. The plot of the film is really quite simple, naive in places, which is why it is great for relaxing after a hard day or watching with the children.
The way actors and roles were chosen for the film "Garfield", the audience also appreciated.
Sequel
The crushing reviews of critics did not prevent the picture from collecting $ 200 million at the box office with a budget of 50 million, which made it one of the most successful box office projects of the year. In 2006, Tom Hill took up the sequel - "Garfield 2: The Story of Two Kitties." Already in mid-June, the new film "Garfield" was released, the main roles, as in the prequel, were played by Brecken Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt.