The rise of gossip magazines and scandal sheets to the level of national institution may seem like a recent development. However The Cat's Meow reminds us that the public's desire to know who is sleeping with who has been with us for decades. In fact the film itself is basically two hours of lushly filmed tittle tattle.
When media-magnet William Randolph Hearst (Edward Hermann) throws a party aboard his yacht things don't go as planned. The wilder antics of the guest infuriate the straight laced Hearst nearly as much as his belief that his mistress Marian Davies (Kirsten Dunst) is having an affair with Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard). The further the boat sails the less convivial the company becomes and soon murderous thoughts are in the air.
Despite being a story of blackmail, jealousy, sex, illegal alcohol and violence The Cat's Meow is so inoffensive you start to wonder whether it was directed by Mary Whitehouse. Dunst steals the show with her eye-catching performance as a playful blonde starlet and the film looks incredibly lush. However the tale is about as tense as worn out knicker elastic with the film making the characters so uninvolving that if they all jumped into sharp infested waters it wouldn't provoke a reaction.
The film's story is based on the rumours that circulated following this real life incident. However the film makes events seem so unsensational that you wonder why anyone bothered passing comment. The combination of this banal tale with solid acting and art directing makes you feel as if you are regarding a finely made armchair. Comfortable but uninvolving.