A Cat in Paris

Directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol

(PG)

**

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This recent Oscar nominee from France “doesn’t necessarily merit” global acclaim, said Tasha Robinson in the A.V. Club. Though its story about a Parisian cat with a double life makes for “stylish, pretty fun,” the film “lacks the energy to grip younger viewers or the depth to impress adults.” Mostly what it has going for it are a “brooding” jazz score and a few spectacular-looking rooftop and nighttime sequences. Yet the movie’s “modest demeanor” contributes to its expressive power, said Stephanie Zacharek in Movieline.com. The plot can sound overbusy: The cat spends his days cuddling with a grieving young girl and his nights accompanying a burglar who will end up having to rescue the girl from kidnappers. But spareness rules the day. Skip the overdubbed version if you can; hearing these very French characters speak English “feels just a little wrong.” It’s simply too bad that the writers never quite decided whether Cat should be serious or silly, said Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times. The animators suffered no such indecision. They’ve created “a modernist dream.”