Movie Review for Garfield

Summary: Life couldn't be sweeter for Garfield, everyone's favorite feline. Parked on a comfortable chair in front of the television, feasting on his favorite dish, lasagna, and hurling insults at his beleaguered owner Jon, Garfield is the master of his universe.When Jon takes Garfield to visit beautiful veterinarian Liz Wilson, she gives Jon a pepped-up, tail-wagging, panting creature thatrepresents everything that Garfield loathes. Garfield, meet Odie, a lovable, dim-witted dog. The wise-cracking cat is, for the first time in his nine lives, left speechless. The clueless Odie chases his tail till he's dizzy, crashes into walls, and barks without cause, all to the unbridled delight of Jon who eagerly welcomes Odie into his home. Odie turns Garfield's perfect world upside down. Garfield's solution: OUT, DARN DOG. When the hapless hound disappears into the evil clutches of local celebrity Happy Chapman, you would think Garfield would rejoice. But he feels responsible for the fate of another. With uncharacteristic energy, courage and selflessness, Garfield manages to pull himself away from his lazy life and spring into action. He's on the unlikeliest of impossible missions: to save Odie.

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Mike McGranaghan of Aisle Seat (7/0)
            I recommend it as a family film that kids will enjoy and adults will find unexpectedly pleasant.

By Randy Cordova of Arizona Republic (7/0)
            A lot like the comic strip, just blanded out beyond belief.

By Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/0)
            Purr-fectly fun.

By Ty Burr of Boston Globe (7/0)
            A toothless, harmless, mostly charmless mongrel movie that mixes live-action actors and animals w...

By Lawrence Toppman of Charlotte Observer (7/0)
            One of the year's cheesiest and most embarrassing movies.

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            I don't know who had the idea that Bill Murray would be the right actor to do Garfield's voice, b...

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Robert K. Elder of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
            The cinematic Garfield: The Movie feels like an 82-minute commercial for Garfield, The Brand ...

By David Sterritt of Christian Science Monitor (7/0)
            The blend of live action and animation is competently done, but the subtly mean-spirited screenpl...

By Margaret A. McGurk of Cincinnati Enquirer (7/0)
            ...even (Bill) Murray cannot hold back the waves of boredom that eventually overwhelm the movie's...

By Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing (7/0)
            The movie will feel like a slow crawl through broken glass for anyone old enough to have mastered...

By John J. Puccio of DVDTown.com (7/0)
            I have always thought of the strip as a quiet cartoon, one based on irony and sly, wry humor. No...

By Sean O'Connell of E! Online (7/0)
            It’s marginally better than The Cat in the Hat, though that’s like saying suffocation is ...

                         Reviews of Garfield
By David Cornelius of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            There are a good twenty-some reasons to hate Garfield. But the only reason you really need is tha...

By Jo Berry of Empire Magazine (7/0)
            Cute and friendly enough, but for anyone over eight, not recommended.

By Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central (7/0)
            I'm not betting on a sudden resurgence of interest in a long-comatose strip that battles "Family ...

By Bruce Feld of Film Journal International (7/0)
            Strictly for the kids. Parents will find themselves yawning more often than not.

By Rob Vaux of Flipside Movie Emporium (7/0)
            Pleasant, mushy, and utterly, utterly soulless.

By Jeffrey Lyles of Gazette (MD) (7/0)
            There’s a certain smell attached to this movie and I sure wish someone remembered to change the l...

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Michael Rechtshaffen of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
            ...strictly for the kiddies.

By Jackie K. Cooper of jackiekcooper.com (7/0)
            Lasagna for the under ten group, but liver for the rest of us

By James Sanford of Kalamazoo Gazette (7/0)
            begs the question: How badly does Bill Murray need an extra paycheck?

By Manohla Dargis of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
            Soulless excuse for an entertainment.

By Peter Debruge of Miami Herald (7/0)
            I'm not a Garfield purist or anything, but at the very least, shouldn't this movie be funny?

By Meg Jones of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/0)
            An amusing film that won't disappoint fans of the long-running comic strip.

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (7/0)
            The worst thing about a movie like Garfield is that it's not Cat in the Hat bad, but is just the ...

By James Rocchi of Netflix (7/0)
            Comic strip adaptation is flabby, lazy and blase -- just like its subject (although probably not ...

By Luke Y. Thompson of New Times (7/0)
            It's all about Murray, who plays Garfield like he's that old lounge singer from Saturday Night Li...

By Jay Boyar of Orlando Sentinel (7/0)
            Perfectly watchable.

By Linda Cook of Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) (7/0)
            I know, I know, I'm really on the warpath about CGI creations lately.

By David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews (7/0)
            ...[the movie] doesn't completely suck ... thanks primarily to Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen's scri...

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Laura Clifford of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
            screenwriters Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow strain milking laughs from pop cultural references and th...

By Robin Clifford of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
            More adult oriented humor would have helped broaden the appeal of Garfield: the Movie beyond its ...

By Jeffrey Chen of ReelTalk Movie Reviews (7/0)
            In a way, it's the perfect representation of Garfield. A bland comic strip inspires a bland movie...

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            A motion picture so ungainly and awful that only an under-8 child could appreciate it.

By Beth Jones of Roanoke Times (Virginia) (7/0)
            Stinkier than a litter box in a multi-cat household.

By Jack Garner of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (7/0)
            A modest family film that'll be catnip for kids. Still, there's just enough Garfield 'tude (and M...

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (7/0)
            Garfield: The Movie is irresistible even though it isn't very good. It gets by on goodwill alone.

By Walter V. Addiego of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            Garfield looks like the work of someone who's hardly seen the backside of a camera.

By Sean Axmaker of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            ...there's never an engaging moment, let alone a creative one.

By Rich Cline of Shadows on the Wall (7/0)
            Ignore the fact that this film should have been made at least 15 years ago and you might enjoy it...

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
            An unappealing movie based on the popular comic strip character of a lazy, selfish, and cynical c...

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            The comic strip hasn't been funny in years, but Bill Murray rescues the movie from the same fate ...

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (7/0)
            This is one cat they need to put back in the bag.

By Dave Calhoun of Time Out (7/0)
            Without Murray, the film would have much less appeal.

By Angel Cohn of TV Guide's Movie Guide (4/3)
            The CGI is well-done, but Garfield's presence among the otherwise live cast is a constant distrac...

By Willie Waffle of WaffleMovies.com (7/0)
            With his acerbic wit, masterful way of using vocal intonations and attitude, Murray shows why he ...

By Uri Lessing of www.kcactive.com (7/0)
            The strongest messages for adults are that we should purchase and consume...Pepperidge Farm Goldf...

By A. O. Scott of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            ...you are likely to leave this one feeling as grouchy and put-upon as the title character.

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Phil Villarreal of Arizona Daily Star (3/4) No reference
            You recall an image of the fat cat on the Trapper Keeper, staring bleakly up at the sky with the ...

By Danny Minton of Beaumont Journal (3/4) No reference
            This movie sucks fur balls.

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (3/4) No reference
            ...casting [Bill Murray] is inspired...

By Michael Booth of Denver Post (3/4) No reference
            Equally insulting to both the homespun adult fans of the comic strip and the oblivious children f...

By Staci Layne Wilson of Fantastica Daily (3/4) No reference
            It's not chopped liver but it's not exactly a fancy feast, either.

By Valerie Kuklenski of Los Angeles Daily News (3/4) No reference
            The story by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow is predictable, even for young moviegoers.

                         Reviews of Garfield
By Colin Covert of Minneapolis Star Tribune (3/4) No reference
            The film is a veritable conga line of bad decisions whose guiding premise appears to be 'Never mi...

By Jami Bernard of New York Daily News (3/4) No reference
            Bland as old kitty chow and unappealing to the eye.

By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (3/4) No reference
            Tolerable, and, at 85 minutes, mercifully short.

By Mark Collette of Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (3/4) No reference
            Imagine the comic strip as a lone enchilada stretched to feed the whole dinner crowd at Pancho's.

By Daniel M. Kimmel of Worcester Telegram & Gazette (3/4) No reference
            [I]f you measure your age in two or more digits, then flip a coin to decide who has to endure it ...

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/1) Not Reachable
            ...a motion picture so ungainly and awful that only an under-8 child could appreciate it.

Movie Distributors
20th Century Fox

Production Companies
Davis Entertainment

Movie Studios
20th Century Fox