The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
A Street Cat Named Bob
Family · Drama · 2016
James Bowen, a homeless busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger cat.
Movie details
A Street Cat Named Bob
“Sometimes it takes nine lives to save one”
2016 Family · Drama 1h 43m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.9 / 10
Community rating
James Bowen, a homeless busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger cat.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over A Street Cat Named Bob?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Girl Who Believes in Miracles
Family · 2021
When Sara hears a preacher say faith can move mountains, she starts praying. Suddenly people in her town are mysteriously healed! But fame soon takes its toll – can Sara’s family save her before it’s too late?
The Shack
Drama · 2017
A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.
If I Stay
Drama · 2014
Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow her heart to be with the love of her life, Adam, a rock singer/guitarist. However, a car wreck changes everything in an instant, and now Mia's life hangs in the balance. Suspended between life and death, Mia faces a choice that will decide her future.
Oliver Twist
Crime · 2005
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.
Starving in Suburbia
Drama · 2014
When seventeen-year-old Hannah stumbles upon a website about Thinspiration--an online community devoted to anorexia as a life choice--she becomes an obsessive follower of the site founder, ButterflyAna. By the time Hannah's family realizes what is happening and get Hannah the help she needs, the disease has fully taken hold and Hannah is refusing to eat. Will this family be able to exorcise the demon of anorexia from their lives?
Losing Isaiah
Drama · 1995
Khaila Richards, a crack-addicted single mother, accidentally leaves her baby in a dumpster while high and returns the next day in a panic to find he is missing. In reality, the baby has been adopted by a warm-hearted social worker, Margaret Lewin, and her husband, Charles. Years later, Khaila has gone through rehab and holds a steady job. After learning that her child is still alive, she challenges Margaret for the custody.
The Cider House Rules
Drama · 1999
Homer is an orphan who was never adopted, becoming the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?
Adam
Drama · 2020
A hard-living salesman becomes a quadriplegic after an accident.
A Christmas Gift from Bob
Family · 2020
James Bowen finds himself the target of an animal welfare investigation that threatens to take away his beloved cat, Bob, at Christmas.
TalhotBlond
Drama · 2012
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Roger Spottiswoode
Written by
Maria Nation · Tim John
Luke Treadaway
James Bowen
Ruta Gedmintas
Betty
Joanne Froggatt
Val
Anthony Stewart Head
Nigel Bowen
Caroline Goodall
Mary
Beth Goddard
Hillary
Darren Evans
Baz
Court is in session
Put A Street Cat Named Bob on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.