A Gift from Bob – A Christmas Gift from Bob (2020)

Directed by: Charles Martin Smith | 89 minutes | family, drama | Actors: Luke Treadaway, Phaldut Sharma, Anna Wilson-Jones, Kristina Tonteri-Young, Celyn Jones, Nina Wadia, Tim Plester, Stephen McCole, Daisy Badger, Sheena Bhattessa

Any cat lover has probably heard of ‘A Street Cat Named Bob’. This novel became a bestseller and was made a theatrical film in 2016, which was canned by Roger Spottiswoode. This film did not do badly and that justified a sequel, according to director Charles Martin Smith. This sequel was released in 2020 under the name ‘A Gift from Bob’ (original title ‘A Christmas Gift from Bob’). In the middle of corona time, so that became a fairly anonymous DVD release in the Netherlands. The timing is a bit off. Too bad, because this is a sweet Christmas movie about the friendship between a man and his cat.

‘A Gift from Bob’ is set in London. The British capital is treated to a thick layer of snow. Atmospheric, but bad news for a poor street musician. James (Luke Treadaway) has to survive on a very meager income. He gets help from an unexpected source: street cat Bob (‘played’ by the real cat of the same name on which the book series is based) teaches him a wise lesson in life.

The first Bob story was an emotional tale about an addicted, homeless street musician who crawled out of a deep valley thanks to a stray cat. Treadaway played this James in a beautiful, modest way. In this part James has kicked the habit and has his life (a lot better) in order. The danger is gone and that makes for a fairly sluggish film. Bob can lead the way and that is nice for cat lovers, because our feline friend is again extremely sympathetic and cuddly. Is that enough to justify the existence of this film?

For cat lovers and smaller children, yes! Bob is cute and very much in the picture. Because the drama has been removed from the film, it appears that there is little to tell. Smith stretches the film to cinema length and is lucky – next to Bob – with Treadaway who gives his character some weight. The acting is decent, but no more than that. What remains is a sympathetic, somewhat tacky family film with little depth and eloquence. But with a cat. Cat lovers can add half a star to the score.