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Joan (Preston) is the single mother with two energetic children, Sally and Conrad (Fanning and Breslin), and a slimy boyfriend (Baldwin) who's scheming to put the kids in a military academy. But Joan has more important things to do today, like prepare for a big party to impress her extremely picky boss (Hayes). So she leaves the kids in the hands of the sleepy Mrs Kwan (Hill). Enter The Cat (Myers), a rule-breaking party animal who encourages Sally and Conrad to do whatever they want, even if it means destroying the house in the process.

Like Jim Carrey in The Grinch, this film either sinks or swims on Myers' Cat. Myers is a very funny actor and writer, but he plays the Cat as a has-been Jewish comic with a Charles Nelson Reilly laugh and several meaningless catch-phrases. It isn't that this is completely unfunny--several scenes are sharply hilarious--but it's utterly wrong for this character, leaving the whole film floundering like the bad-CGI fish that continually scolds the kids. Why didn't Welch restrain Myers even a little bit? And why was the script allowed to wander so far from the original tale? The writers pointlessly strap on several lame subplots and an obvious moral lesson for each character. The actors are all fine, if a little too arch. And the film's design is eye-catching--a frothy storybook land in garish colours and designs. When the film sticks to Dr Seuss' tone, it's quite magical. But those are very rare moments in an otherwise joyless movie. And it's frankly far too violent and tasteless for the kids it's aimed at.