Movie Review: Be My Cat: A Film for Anne Will Scratch Your Found Footage Itch

 
Do you like found footage flicks? How about Anne Hathaway? I just know you answered “yes” to those, so let me tell ya my creeps, the picture I’n going to look at should really float your ol’ beastly boat as it definitely gets the FF chocolate dipped well in good in that Annie peanut butter…wait, that sounds off…anyway; review!
Be My Cat: A Film for Anne tells the story, via a series of video diaries, of an enthusiastic young film maker named Adrian who gets it in his nutty noggin that he can score Anne Hathaway to star in his pending motion picture. In order to convince her, he shoots some footage of a few local thespians performing what he wants Anne to do in the finished picture. Well, as you would guess, it’s just ninety minutes of comely young ladies reading sides on camera…the end. Oh, wait, there’s chloroform, ropes, knives, and a plan to change the world by making Anne Adrian’s soul mate…by killing her.
Let’s start with the best thing about this flick; the acting from Writer/Director/Actor Adrian Tofei…this dude is a manic, explosive, deranged tour de force and he plays the role of psycho film maker to the absolute F’n hilt. He chatters constantly, but not annoyingly, and really makes you believe that this off-kilter nutter exists. Also of note are the strong, natural performances of the actresses he gets to star in his footage, and the mounting sense of unease that prevails, especially during the first half of the film.
Moving on to the down side of things, Be My Cat gets a case of the drags during the final portion of the film that it never really overcomes. While Tofei remains engaging throughout, the story he tells becomes a bit too long in the tooth in the last segment. Adding to the problems with the film’s third act is the fact the film ends insanely abrupt…jarringly so, but probably not in the way that Tofei might have wanted as it seems like there is no closure to the story.
While definitely not my chosen cup of terror tea, Be My Cat: A Film for Anne nevertheless is a (mostly) effective and demented thriller, with a fantastically unsettling main character…and while it doesn’t add anything new to the found footage genre, it plays with the conventions deftly.