Looking for Kitty (2004) Reviews

• Decent script

  Gordon-112007-01-01

  This is a film about a man hiring a private detective to find his missing wife. Along the way, he learns to let go and live his own life. This is not just a detective story as I first imagined it to be. It is about learning to accept loss, deal with it and learn to let go. The private detective (Edward Burns) does a lot of detective work with a hilarious interrogation style speech. Yet, he comes up with all these counselling methods to help his client cope with his loss. This film does not have expensive sets or nice costumes. It relies on the script to tell us a decent story. This film is effective, and makes you wonder why there are people out there who simply cannot let go.

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• This is what film is all about.

  Squaredealer332007-09-24

  It's a small story about "small" people. If you like films about real world people, see this film. It's a film that doesn't flinch in showing small town New York. It's a great achievement in American film – I'm sure no one will notice. Maybe the audience doesn't exist for these films anymore, but that shouldn't prevent the making of them. Make them for the audience of the future. Give this film some time and people will come to it. The score was noteworthy – very nice. Somebody did a great job putting this film together. It flows they way a good story should – just enough humor and just enough pathos for a complete story. Do you like the films made after the fall of the Hollywood system and before the rise of the Lucas/Spielberg juggernaut? This one is good enough to play with the big boys. Like the film characters, these film makers are some of the last hold-outs in making film stories the way they should be made -- character driven, and about something.

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• Ed Burns should take a cue from Woody Allen

  jrosenf12006-08-04

  This is another New York-centric little character-driven film about a down-on-his-luck private detective, Jack(Burns), who takes a case for a sad-sack husband, Abe(Krumholtz) searching for his recently departed wife. Jack is a lonely man who has lost his wife and feels screwed by the system. Abe is a baseball coach from Upstate who longs for the return of his beloved Kitty. But she evidently tired of Abe's small-town ways and devotion to the kids on his team, so she took off to shack up with a rock star in a Manhattan condo. Despite their differences, and Jack's desire to be left alone, Abe persuades (for $500 extra/week) Jack to let him assist in his investigation; their daily interaction leads both men to learn something about themselves. All the typical Burns' traits are there: poor schlub with relationship problems? Check. Men attempting to find themselves, usually with the help of unattainable women? Check. Witty dialog and terrific one-liners? Check. Enough shots of downtown New York to film a travel guide? Check. I mean, it's a decent little movie that hits a few high notes, such as when Jack wistfully gives historical back-ground about the "holdout" buildings left in the booming megalopolis that is downtown, or the gut-wrenching scenes of Burns pining for his lost wife. But there really isn't much to it, and what is there, we've seen it all from Mr. Burns before. And much better (i.e. Brothers McMullen, She's the One). My advice to Ed: next time out, take a cue from the Wood-man and move your tale to another locale. Woody finally abandoned his beloved city, hopped across the pond to London, added some intrigue, and the result was his biggest critical and box office success in years, MATCH POINT; it was so successful he opted to make his next film there as well, although early reviews of SCOOP are not flattering. But maybe you could try Ireland, and add a little mystery or a torrid affair. Heck, even add Scarlett Johansson if you must. Because we love ya, Ed, for your everyman charm and ease in front of, and behind, the camera. But I for one am growing tired of your one note acts. You have the talent to do so much better.

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• Burns stays hot in my book!

  meeza2006-11-15

  Here Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty, Here Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty! Boy, do I need pussy! OK, enough! "Looking For Kitty" is another Edward Burns creation which I found to be of catwalk material. Burns plays Jack Stanton, a New York introverted private detective who takes on a missing person case. Yes, he is Looking For Kitty. Stanton himself has been missing the riches of life for a long time because he grieves the loss of his dead wife. David Krumholtz co-stars as Abe Fiannico, the Midwestern idiosyncratic baseball coach who travels to New York to find his missing wife. Yes, he is also Looking For Kitty. Abe hires Stanton to, yea you got it, to be Looking For Kitty. OK, I will stop "Kitting" around. New York plays a central figure in the film's symbolism & richness. Burns subtle, but yet, moving "Looking For Kitty" will quietly "stray" in your system for a while. Writer-Director Burns continues to be unappreciated by the film industry. He is the ultimate film voice of the Irish-American community. His acting effort as the cocky, standoffish Stanton was commendable. The petite Krumholtz gave a big performance as the desperate & honest Abe. One of the supreme supporting performances I have seen so far this year. "Looking For Kitty" is a prototype cinematic tool kit on an effective dialogue-driven film. ***** Excellent

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• Lovely, small, story

  generic230-12008-08-16

  I came upon this movie by accident, and it's gentle tone, and small character sketches completely charmed me. A small, but lovely story about two men who are trying to overcome loss, and the bond that grows between them. It's very small, and intimate, so it's not surprising that some people didn't really like this movie. David Krumholz is really great and moving. Ed Burns, who I don't always like, is perfect in this. His grief about his wife surrounds him in his performance. It's not heavy handed, but very subtle and gentle. An excellent movie. A lovely way to spend 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon. Catching movies like this by accident on HBO kind of makes me mad, because, I never heard of the movie, and there is absolutely nothing about it that would warrant it not being promoted or put in theaters. Sometimes movies are a 10, but most movies are a 5 or 6, and when a movie, no matter how small, is an 8, that makes it special. They make 200 million dollar shitty movies all the time that never recoup their cost. So, why should this lovely thing not get it's chance? I bet it was made for a song, and could have made a small profit for the studio, if marketed right.

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