Mister Fluffball – Nine Lives (2016)

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld | 87 minutes | comedy, drama, family | Actors: Malina Weissman, Jennifer Garner, Kevin Spacey, Robbie Amell, Cheryl Hines, Mark Consuelos, Christopher Walken, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Teddy Sears, Jay Patterson, Jewelle Blackman, Serge Houde, Mark Camacho, Chris Wilding

‘Mr Pluizenbol’ (‘Nine Lives’) is about a successful businessman who is so absorbed in his work and ambition that he forgets his family, especially his teenage daughter. It is a saltless and uninspired starting point, which in the hands of five screenwriters and Barry Sonnenfeld in the director’s chair does not get a much better effect.

Combine all the movie dads who choose their careers over their family life and you get Tom Brand, owner of Firebrand (played by Kevin Spacey, voiced in Dutch by Barry Atsma). For roughly the first five minutes of this film, the young viewers – for whom this film is exclusively intended – have to make do with the side of this man that will appeal to them least: the businessman. Weird choice, because what child is interested in seeing a couple of adults meet? But once the billionaire’s young daughter is introduced, things are moving in the right direction. Although ‘Mr Pluizenbol’ never really gets on the right track.

Because daughter will soon turn eleven and her dearest wish has been a cat for years, it has to come this year. Due to a navigation error – or is it a higher power? – Daddy ends up at a shadowy pet store run by an even more shadowy Felix Perkins (Christopher Walken). Reluctantly, Tom buys a fluffy adult cat, including a basket and food bowl. Due to a calamity at work, he cannot go home straight away and he has an accident on top of the roof of his office. When a lightning strikes, he and the cat switch bodies. Tom falls into a coma and the cat goes to the hospital, where he eventually ends up with the owner.

There are still all kinds of things at play in ‘Mr. Fluffball’, but no child will care if Tom still manages to get the largest skyscraper in the Northern Hemisphere. The father-son relationship is also made up of clichés. The characters don’t react believable anywhere and the dialogues are cringe-inducing. Ultimately, the film revolves around the lesson that Tom needs to get to give his family more attention and of course living like a cat is the perfect method for that. There is no doubt for a moment that all of this will not work out.

Are there not positive things to mention about this film? Okay, okay, Malina Weissman, who plays daughter Rebecca, is a cute kid, and Cheryl Hines, who plays Tom’s ex-wife, has some nasty comments, but the cast is mostly too good for the material they’re working with. Jennifer Garner can almost sleep in this kind of role as a faithful wife who is mistreated, and Christopher Walken didn’t have to dig deep for his portrayal of the cat whisperer with a magical twist. We only have one life instead of nine, don’t waste your precious time with this flop!