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Dr. Seuss The Cat in the Hat

(2003) ** 1/2 Pg
82 min. Universal. Director: Bo Welch. Cast: Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston, Spencer Breslin.

I'm back with another critical rhyme.

It's The Cat in the Hat with Mike Myers this time.

Perhaps this is blasphemous, but I found it funny;

For sure, it's a license to make and print money.

For the most part, the story does sensibly stretch,

Though an ill-advised rave scene might trigger a retch.

Director Bo Welch works each design angle

In a mix of old-fashion and comic newfangle.

Spencer Breslin plays Conrad, Kelly Preston his mom;

Dakota Fanning the uptight sis with a Palm.

Alec Baldwin's the baddie, hilarious at first.

Sean Hayes plays a neat freak, and Fish primed to burst.

As for Myers, he follows that unwritten law:

Technicolor felines must speak like Bert Lahr.

He's inexhaustible, with his Cat-bag of tricks

The visual non-sequiturs, the prop-comic shticks.

Kids eat it up, and parents won't mind it.

The plot is all detour, but I'm sure you can find it.

But what does it mean--this wee, kiddie Faust

In a cartoony, bulging, pink suburban house?

The devil brings lawyers; the kids sign a contract.

The climactic goodness is dubiously compact.

Still, it's a romp, and it moves like a train.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 don't quite tax the brain.

O'er-the-head naughty jokes there's no need to defend.

Kids love the chaos, and play nice in the end.

Yes, the dazzle works into an overkill ruckus

But I'm sure the filmmakers don't intend to--disappoint.

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