Rating: 4/5
James Bowen sits playing guitar and singing “Beautiful Monday” in a busy Covent Garden street. People are walking past this homeless man, but no one looks at him, he seems invisible. Then Bob, the cat, enters his life and things start to change. It is actually James’s social worker, not the feline, who gives James his first real chance in life by getting him into state housing. But what we should really thank her for is my new Saturday night catchphrase when people in town just won’t shut up: “silence over bullshit”. However, she is using this catchphrase in response to a recovering heroin addict. This is when we first see James in his true state: a shivering, manic mess (in contrast to the skilled, peaceful, unlucky musician in the first scene).
We don’t learn too much about James’s past, except that there was a messy divorce, instability at home and then voila, another heroin addict on the street. His past is not what Roger Spottiswoode wants us to concentrate on. Must we always know why someone ends up on the street? Can the homeless not be worthy of help regardless of how they got there? A Street Cat Named Bob presents us with James as he is, not why he is, and still compels us to root for him.
Bob is just a cat who lets himself into James’s home one day. His presence helps James make more money busking than ever before so, naturally, he keeps him. Bob is also the perfect wingman and helps James meet Betty the vegan hippie who doesn’t believe in the patriarchal holding of surnames. The hold of James’s addiction never leaves the audience’s mind. You’ll stay on edge throughout as cracks appear in James’s chirpy persona. Still, the film will take you on a journey you will love as you see a beautiful cats-eye-view of London.
The soundtrack perfectly accompanies the movie with James’s acoustic busking songs. This movie is simple, but beautiful: a beautiful journey, a beautiful relationship, and a beautifully imperfect life.