Review: Miss Minoes (2001, US release 2011)

[Mark R. Leeper]

MISS MINOES
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: A cat is accidentally turned into a beautiful
woman by a toxic waste accident. Minoes, now Miss
Minoes, befriends a failing newspaper reporter and
uses her network of cat friends to help get the reporter
the news stories he needs. Dutch author Annie
M. G. Schmidt's 1970 children's book MINOES is adapted
for the screen by director Vincent Bal who also
co-authored the screenplay. The result is a rather
slight but pleasant family fantasy film. Rating:
low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

When a barrel of toxic waste is accidentally dropped off a truck
and nearly hits a cat, the cat, Minoes, is somehow transformed into
a beautiful woman (Carice van Houten). Minoes now looks like a
woman and can most of the time behave as a woman, but her instincts
are all feline. When frightened by a dog, she bounds up to the top
branches of a tree without knowing how she will get down. To her
rescue comes Tibbe (Theo Maassen), a reporter too timid to get his
newspaper hard-hitting news stories. When they run into each other
a second time they form a sort of partnership with Minoes finding
news stories in return for food and a place to sleep. Minoes is
not alone in the search. The neighborhood cats, at first wary of
this human, form a bond with this fellow feline, and they bring all
the news of the neighborhood to Tibbe--cat news and human news.

The 2001 Dutch film is dubbed acceptably if imperfectly into
English for the current release. So while the character, human and
feline, are speaking English, print is in Dutch. Tibbe may say
what he is typing in English, but when we see his writing on a
typewriter or in a newspaper it is in Dutch. Enough context is
given so youngsters will know what is going on, even if they will
be unable to read the writing. Unlike some children's films, this
one does not attempt to appear to children to be taking place in
the United States. It gives children some of the feel of ever day
life in a mid-sized Dutch town.

The screenplay co-authored by director Vincent Bal with Tamara Bos
and Burny Bos takes no unexpected turns much of the humor comes
from Minoes's catlike behavior at inappropriate times. If in the
middle of a public event someone is dangling their car keys, Minoes
will be unable to resist the temptation to paw the keys. But
Minoes with her cadre of cat reporters is able to save Tibbe's job
and further is able to tell Tibbe some unexpected facts about a
prominent local businessman--facts that maybe some of the people in
town do not want to see revealed. It is of interest that the
marvelous transformation of Minoes is never explained beyond saying
the cat licked up some spilled chemicals.

MISS MINOES had a troubled journey to American screens since it was
released in the Netherlands in December 2001 where it won the Dutch
equivalent of the Academy Award. It won numerous awards at
children's film festivals in the United States, Canada, Argentina,
Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Egypt, and India. It had a
small DVD release under the inferior title UNDERCOVER KITTY, a
title that suggests exploitation of another talking cat film made
the same year, CATS AND DOGS.

Though there is a little violence, it results in little more than a
hurt paw and not enough to frighten even the youngest children.
MISS MINOES is a simple, innocent story seated in Dutch village
life, a charming holiday choice for family viewing. I rate the
film a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.

MISS MINOES opens December 23, 2011, at the Cinema Village in New
York and the Music Box in Chicago. Hopefully, it will get a home
video release not long after.

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279231/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/miss_minoes/>


Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2011 Mark R. Leeper
MISS MINOES
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: A cat is accidentally turned into a beautiful
woman by a toxic waste accident. Minoes, now Miss
Minoes, befriends a failing newspaper reporter and
uses her network of cat friends to help get the reporter
the news stories he needs. Dutch author Annie
M. G. Schmidt's 1970 children's book MINOES is adapted
for the screen by director Vincent Bal who also
co-authored the screenplay. The result is a rather
slight but pleasant family fantasy film. Rating:
low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

When a barrel of toxic waste is accidentally dropped off a truck
and nearly hits a cat, the cat, Minoes, is somehow transformed into
a beautiful woman (Carice van Houten). Minoes now looks like a
woman and can most of the time behave as a woman, but her instincts
are all feline. When frightened by a dog, she bounds up to the top
branches of a tree without knowing how she will get down. To her
rescue comes Tibbe (Theo Maassen), a reporter too timid to get his
newspaper hard-hitting news stories. When they run into each other
a second time they form a sort of partnership with Minoes finding
news stories in return for food and a place to sleep. Minoes is
not alone in the search. The neighborhood cats, at first wary of
this human, form a bond with this fellow feline, and they bring all
the news of the neighborhood to Tibbe--cat news and human news.

The 2001 Dutch film is dubbed acceptably if imperfectly into
English for the current release. So while the character, human and
feline, are speaking English, print is in Dutch. Tibbe may say
what he is typing in English, but when we see his writing on a
typewriter or in a newspaper it is in Dutch. Enough context is
given so youngsters will know what is going on, even if they will
be unable to read the writing. Unlike some children's films, this
one does not attempt to appear to children to be taking place in
the United States. It gives children some of the feel of ever day
life in a mid-sized Dutch town.

The screenplay co-authored by director Vincent Bal with Tamara Bos
and Burny Bos takes no unexpected turns much of the humor comes
from Minoes's catlike behavior at inappropriate times. If in the
middle of a public event someone is dangling their car keys, Minoes
will be unable to resist the temptation to paw the keys. But
Minoes with her cadre of cat reporters is able to save Tibbe's job
and further is able to tell Tibbe some unexpected facts about a
prominent local businessman--facts that maybe some of the people in
town do not want to see revealed. It is of interest that the
marvelous transformation of Minoes is never explained beyond saying
the cat licked up some spilled chemicals.

MISS MINOES had a troubled journey to American screens since it was
released in the Netherlands in December 2001 where it won the Dutch
equivalent of the Academy Award. It won numerous awards at
children's film festivals in the United States, Canada, Argentina,
Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Egypt, and India. It had a
small DVD release under the inferior title UNDERCOVER KITTY, a
title that suggests exploitation of another talking cat film made
the same year, CATS AND DOGS.

Though there is a little violence, it results in little more than a
hurt paw and not enough to frighten even the youngest children.
MISS MINOES is a simple, innocent story seated in Dutch village
life, a charming holiday choice for family viewing. I rate the
film a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.

MISS MINOES opens December 23, 2011, at the Cinema Village in New
York and the Music Box in Chicago. Hopefully, it will get a home
video release not long after.

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279231/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/miss_minoes/>


Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2011 Mark R. Leeper