All due credit to stars Sandra Oh and Anne Heche. For my part I've never seen either in roles quite like these - violent, cruel, full of unremitting spite, and physically demanding. At varying points one is painted as pointedly more despicable, unsympathetic, and exacting than the other - or vice versa - with ultimately no clear hero or villain between them. The greatest strength in 'Catfight' is in the interplay between them, whatever that looks like - and I admire the sluggish, exhausted choreography of the fight scenes.
This isn't to count out the rest of the cast. Supporting parts are perhaps less prominent and less dynamic, but Alicia Silverstone, Ariel Kavoussi, Amy Hill, Myra Lucretia Taylor, and Dylan Baker are all fantastic, adding both warmth and sardonic, wry humor to balance the far darker, madcap brutality represented in the stars.
From there, however, the picture becomes much more murky. The narrative gains flavor and context with interspersed unfunny satirical broadcasts of a TV host akin to Jay Leno or David Letterman who highlights the dystopian reality outside the protagonists' respective bubbles - a touch which also seems to intentionally recall Mike Judge's iffy 'Idiocracy' with further juvenile comedy. This aspect works alongside the notable disparity between the relatable sympathy we're expected to feel towards the lead characters at some times, and the abject vitriol we're expected to feel at others, to sour whatever morbid fun could be built from their mutual antagonism. As if to emphasize - various musical selections in the soundtrack are clearly geared to lending to the hotheaded, impulsive, cynical energy of the film's most robustly aggressive and emotionally charged scenes, but the flair of these pieces is rendered inert by the disparate moods that the feature wishes to encompass across its scenes.
The result is a picture with a strong cast, and a premise loaded with minor potential, that is undercut by the excesses and faults in its writing and execution. This is much more mean, dispiriting, and thusly and otherwise unexciting than it is amusing, invigorating, and thusly or otherwise stimulating. It's not bad, but to my sad disappointment, nor is it specifically enjoyable. Unless one is a diehard fan of someone in the cast, I can't especially imagine recommending 'Catfight' - but if you happen to stumble across it, I suppose there are worse ways to pass the time.
This isn't to count out the rest of the cast. Supporting parts are perhaps less prominent and less dynamic, but Alicia Silverstone, Ariel Kavoussi, Amy Hill, Myra Lucretia Taylor, and Dylan Baker are all fantastic, adding both warmth and sardonic, wry humor to balance the far darker, madcap brutality represented in the stars.
From there, however, the picture becomes much more murky. The narrative gains flavor and context with interspersed unfunny satirical broadcasts of a TV host akin to Jay Leno or David Letterman who highlights the dystopian reality outside the protagonists' respective bubbles - a touch which also seems to intentionally recall Mike Judge's iffy 'Idiocracy' with further juvenile comedy. This aspect works alongside the notable disparity between the relatable sympathy we're expected to feel towards the lead characters at some times, and the abject vitriol we're expected to feel at others, to sour whatever morbid fun could be built from their mutual antagonism. As if to emphasize - various musical selections in the soundtrack are clearly geared to lending to the hotheaded, impulsive, cynical energy of the film's most robustly aggressive and emotionally charged scenes, but the flair of these pieces is rendered inert by the disparate moods that the feature wishes to encompass across its scenes.
The result is a picture with a strong cast, and a premise loaded with minor potential, that is undercut by the excesses and faults in its writing and execution. This is much more mean, dispiriting, and thusly and otherwise unexciting than it is amusing, invigorating, and thusly or otherwise stimulating. It's not bad, but to my sad disappointment, nor is it specifically enjoyable. Unless one is a diehard fan of someone in the cast, I can't especially imagine recommending 'Catfight' - but if you happen to stumble across it, I suppose there are worse ways to pass the time.