I’ll spare you the agony of my being cute in this review by not rhyming each line. When I was a kid, these Seuss books were all around the house. I found them fascinating, but weird. Now a kid doesn’t usually care about whether or not a child’s book makes sense, but in this case I noticed. This may sound like I was more insightful at ten years old then your average kid, but I thought the whole green eggs and ham thing was some kind of drug trip.

This is all to say that I figured making a movie out of a storybook that was maybe twenty-five pages, and plenty weird at that, would be quite a chore. Sadly, I was right. Mike Myers gives it his all, but what are you going to do?

By comparison, let’s look back at “The Grinch” movie from a year ago. A brilliant TV Christmas special had already been made from that story and Jim Carrey was a great choice for the starring role in the movie version. “The Grinch” story had some depth and a great moral tale to tell – there just isn’t any of that with “The Cat”.

What they did come up with is a story of two kids, a brother and a sister, who conjure up “The Cat” one boring, rainy day. From there, zaniness ensues. In less than an hour, the house is destroyed and restored and everyone lives happily ever after.

So much for the storyline. After seeing “Looney Tunes Back In Action”, I have a new theory. Since Bugs Bunny and The Cat in The Hat are classics from the baby boomer era, they have to make these movies at a level that appeals to both child and adult. Because of this, some kids are going to find the one liners way over their heads, and some adults are going to raise an eyebrow over the near profanity.

With Mike Myers as “The Cat”, it’s really hit and miss. I loved it when he stands there with a garden hoe and says, “dirty hoe, but I still love ‘ya baby”, just as a pimp would. What will kids think? Since I don’t have any, I don’t care. But there were other times, Meyers starts borrowing from his own schtick with rip-offs of Linda Richman (the coffee klotsch lady) and Fat Bastard (from Austin Powers). It looked alot like he was making it up as they went along.

In addition to the adult humor, some will enjoy the sexy Kelly Preston as the Mom, and I’ve got to say, Alec Baldwin as the villain convinces me once again how great an actor he really is – too bad he’s such a political kook.

I give credit to the art work as this movie is eye catching with plenty of “pretty pastel colors” on display and sets that don’t disappoint. Filmed in Pomona and Simi Valley, I heard some people tried to buy some of the make believe homes of “Anville”. Real estate in Southern California is that hot. Too bad this movie is not (there’s your one rhyme). I give “The Cat In The Hat” a “5.0”