All Consuming Love: Man in a Cat (2011) User Reviews

A surreal and finely drawn comic delight

[simon_harps66 · 9/10 · 13 May 2011]

A brilliant, original idea realised with aplomb, All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat) is a great display of imagination and comic dexterity. It's a surreal, whimsical and even poignant tale which mines great humour from a bizarre but devilishly effective set-up. The writing is sharp and funny, and All Consuming Love is beautifully animated - there's a warm but anarchic spirit at work which keeps the laughs coming without sacrificing the plot or heart at the centre of the story.

There are some great vocal performances too from performers including Kevin Eldon and Josie Long. Like Ren & Stimpy re-imagined as a romantic comedy, this is a lovingly made film packed with ideas and the animation work really pitches the comedy at just the right level. Wonderful stuff, and a must-see.

An irresistible concept with deft comic timing, a unique showcase of skill and creativity.

[ewangreen · 9/10 · 10 May 2011]

All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat) deftly juggles surrealism, humour and (another genre) without dropping a single flaming torch or chainsaw. One of the joys of watching is to appreciate how easily such an ambitious project could have missed the mark, derailed, dropped the ball or knocked over the jenga tower, showering the audience in little wooden bricks of bad film-making.

All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat) is uplifting to watch, full of funny ideas displayed at their best with confident direction and hearty, full hand-drawn animation. The hard work shows in the animated performances and goes towards selling the difficult concepts.

Upon watching the film, beware however. As you may discover, it is difficult to recommend without giving away too much, and like me you may end up jibbering about flaming chainsaws instead. I can only apologise and humbly ask that you see for yourself, it is most definitely worth it.

Engaging for its oddity but not too much else

[bob the moo · 25 August 2013]

Well, good luck finding an odder film about two people meeting and falling in love. This animation sees a man living inside the head of a cat. He likes the cat's new owner and when he thinks she has seen him behind the cat's eyes, he decides to try to meet her. Meanwhile a small woman living in the wall of the woman's house also sees the man and realizes she doesn't have to be alone any more.

I'm not quite sure what the moral of the film is – to settle for what is in front of you and not overstretch yourself romantically perhaps? Not sure, but what I do know is that the delivery of it is very odd indeed. Being animated, we can do and see whatever the makers can think to create and so we have some very strange ideas that we just need to accept. The delivery of these ideas and events is quite unsettling to watch – particularly within the context of a film about two characters falling in love with each other. We are spared the final "journey" of the couple, but the whole thing is very strange.

Unfortunately I didn't feel enough for the characters or understand their motivations enough to take much from it on the emotional level. This left the novelty appeal of the weirdness, imagination and animated delivery – for sure this is still worth a look for, but without more I did feel like perhaps this had been the whole point, which didn't feel like enough for me.

What a unique concept!!!

[alexanderjolliffe · 9/10 · 11 October 2011]

All Consuming Love is exactly what a good animation should be! It reflects the world in which we live but in an insane way we probably would have never dreamt up. Having a man living inside a cat like its a hollow vessel is certainly something i would have never dreamt up! The voice actors are wonderfully cast, Kevin Eldon lays down a solid performance and Josie Long well she played the role of the timid Susan Mildew perfectly. I'm being so careful to not spoil anything but look out for a piece of spot on comic timing when Susan leaves Yorkie's humble home. I hope that the team will produce more shorts and maybe even one day a TV Series, heck why not have a bash at a feature film! To conclude this film is beautifully designed, craftily animated and well written, It is at the forefront of British Comedy animation. If you haven't seen it get down to your nearest film festival and have a gander you won't be disappointed!