Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon
Also Starring: Cheetoh
Directed by: David Fincher

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains major spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) turns to the police and news media for help when his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) mysteriously disappears.  But the investigation soon turns on him being the main suspect.

Featured Feline: The Dunne’s cat is brought over from the book onto the big screen and portrayed by an orange tabby actor named Cheetoh.  The unnamed cat character’s main appearances are when Nick is called home by his neighbor saying the cat is outside.  Nick picks the cat up from the front walk and carries him inside just before he realizes his wife is missing.

The cat is next seen sitting on the couple’s bed when the police arrive and look through the house.

Nick feeds the cat when he returns home after the investigation there calms down.

Cheetoh is a presence throughout the film but doesn’t really have any major importance to the overall story except to perhaps soften our feelings about the Nick Dunne character (a la Save the Cat!)  It’s interesting to note that while Nick and his sister Margo (Carrie Coon) interact lovingly with the cat, Nick’s wife Amy never does.

Nick even takes comfort in the cat’s company after his wife’s disturbing return.

The only time Amy and the cat are ever seen together is when she is making breakfast after her return and the cat is sitting in front of the counter.

The overall opinion of the cat on the set by those involved in the making of the film was less than impressive.  “The cat was really hard to get.  He was really hard to cast,” the book’s original author and screenplay writer Gillian Flynn was quoted as saying.  Ben Affleck jokingly addded, “He’s a half-dead cat.”  This rather odd statement makes more sense in light of director David Fincher’s explanation on the DVD commentary that Cheetoh was not a well cat, possibly dehydrated, his fur was matted and perhaps he didn’t hear or see very much.  “But the beauty of Cheetoh is wherever you place Cheetoh, that’s where he was going to stay for that day.  So continuity for Cheetoh was never an issue.  If you put Cheetoh on the stairs you could shoot for nine hours and at the end of the day Cheetoh is at the bottom of the stairs.”

Final Mewsings: Even semi-disabled cats can make good actors.

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