Josie and the Pussycats (2001)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Directors:

Harry Elfont
Deborah Kaplan

Writers (WGA):

Deborah Kaplan (written by) &
Harry Elfont (written by) ...

Release Date:

11 April 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

here kitty, kitty, kitty...

Plot:

Satire poking fun at the pop music industry, focusing on the twenty-something members of an 80's-ish rock group and their managers.

Plot Keywords:

Teen Movie | Box Office Flop | Mud Mask | Girl Band | Based On Cartoon

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Rachael Leigh Cook	...	Josie McCoy
Tara Reid	...	Melody Valentine
Rosario Dawson	...	Valerie Brown
Alan Cumming	...	Wyatt Frame
Parker Posey	...	Fiona
Gabriel Mann	...	Alan M.
Paulo Costanzo	...	Alexander Cabot
Missi Pyle	...	Alexandra Cabot
Tom Butler	...	Agent Kelly
Alexander Martin	...	Les - Du Jour (as Alex Martin)
Faedragh Carpenter	...	Teenage Fan
Justin Chatwin	...	Teenage Fan
Marites Pineda	...	Teenage Fan
Kimberly Rimer	...	Wedding Dress Girl
Corinne Reilly	...	Aquarium Tour Guide

MPAA:

Rated PG for sensuality and language. (director's cut)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-11 (2001) (video rating) | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Australia:PG | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | USA:PG (cut) (certificate #37890) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

41st Avenue at Yew Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

'Rachel Leigh Cook', Rosario Dawson, and Tara Reid had to go to a "Band Camp" for two weeks to learn how to play the actual songs in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Wyatt and Fiona are watching the girls at the big party, their monitor starts out with no text. The shot cuts to Wyatt and Fiona talking, then back to the monitor which now has the surveillance camera's location along the bottom.

Quotes:

Alexandra Cabot: You know he's lying.
Josie McCoy: You know your fly's down.
Alexandra Cabot: [Trying to zip up her fly] Well you... suck... heh.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Renée Zellweger/Eve (#26.17)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Behind The Music - Show Open

An enjoyable satire although it is rather undone by the silly mood that pervades it

When Du Jour, a top boy band go missing after an "unfortunate" plane accident, manager Wyatt Frame decides that the time is ripe for him to go and find "the next big thing" to sell to the teen market. He discovers a failing girl rock group in a small town and offers them a deal without hearing them. Within hours they have been styled and dressed by the label and are ready to cut their first record. Within a week they are number one, have screaming fans following them everywhere and have a strange desire to buy products that they had no previous interest in. However Josie starts to notice something strange about all of this and is soon asking more questions than the label would like her to.

I hope my description above gives you an idea of the silly sense of humour that runs throughout this film because, although it could have been a sharp satire, it isn't quite as insightful as it could have been. Mostly this is down to the material - the targets are so easy (hell, pop music is practically a parody of itself in some regards) it is never sharp although it is pretty on-target for the most part. It doesn't help that the tone of the whole thing is that of a silly teen comedy rather than a satire and perhaps it was the strange mix of things that confused me a little bit and put me off it. Despite this though I still quite enjoyed it; it was amiable enough, was quite self-aware and was pretty funny at points. I can understand why many were put off it and it doesn't break any new ground but it is still pretty enjoyable and it was nice to see a teen movie actually try to do more than just pander to its audience (well, not much anyway).

The actors involved give some clue that the material is up to something despite the weaknesses – Parker Posey doesn't just turn out for every teen comedy that is around you know! The three leads are all pretty good – delivering the silly mood but also being in on the joke and into it. Cook is probably the least fun of the three but she does well to carry the narrative. Reid is fun in a simple ditsy role that made me smile and Dawson is as gorgeous as ever while still delivering an enjoyable character. Cumming is a bit annoying and he adds to the silly mood with his overly daft performance. Posey is fun and somehow manages to be daft but still effective in the role. The support are mostly in on the joke and the star cameos send themselves up well – Carson Daley and Levy particularly. Biggest surprise was that I liked Missy Pyle – normally she is terrible but here she works.

Overall this is a strange mix of pop satire and teen movie. This produces a rather silly tone, which may put some off, not helped by the fact that the easy targets do rather take the edge off the material somewhat but for my money it was refreshing to see this try to do what it did. I enjoyed the humour and the fact that the cast were all into it and, although it is not a great movie I would certainly watch it again.