neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Cat's Meow
	Peter Bogdanovich Kirsten Dunst, Edward Hermann, Eddie Izzard, Jennifer Tilly, Cary Elwes. Joanna Lumley 2001		Not quite a docu-drama, this sophisticated treat from director Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show," "Mask") would more rightly be called historical supposition or speculation. It concerns events that transpired aboard the yacht of media mogul William Randolph Hearst during a fateful voyage in 1924, for which the passenger list included Hearst's young mistress Marion Davies and rising silent-movie star Charlie Chaplin (who had been romantically linked), gossip columnist Louella Parsons, and fading pioneer film producer Thomas Ince. The occasion is a birthday celebration for Ince, but the party is pooped when a guest is seriously injured and dies. Extraordinary, multi-hued performances by Kirsten Dunst, a revelation as Davies, and Edward Hermann, complex as Hearst, are reason enough to see "The Cat's Meow." British comic Eddie Izzard captures Chaplin's spirit, despite lacking the Little Tramp's svelte grace; Jennifer Tilly is appropriately grating as Parsons; and Cary Elwes is dashing yet anxious as Ince.