• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, and Jon Arbuckle, voiced by Nicholas Hoult, appear in "The Garfield Movie." The OSV News classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (OSV News photo/Sony)

Movie Review: ‘The Garfield Movie’

May 29, 2024
By John Mulderig
OSV News
Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

NEW YORK (OSV News) – The world’s most famous lasagne-loving, Mondays-averse feline gets a third big-screen outing with “The Garfield Movie” (Columbia). Director Mark Dindal’s animated adaptation of cartoonist Jim Davis’ long-running comic strip is generally amiable and family-friendly. Yet it’s only fitfully amusing and feels disposable.

Chris Pratt voices the gluttonous orange tabby cat. Kidnapped by Jinx (voice of Hannah Waddingham), a villainous female Persian, Garfield soon discovers that his abductor’s real target is his estranged dad, Vic (voice of Samuel L. Jackson).

Garfield believes that Vic abandoned him when he was a kitten, leaving him on his own until he was adopted by his human buddy, Jon (voice of Nicholas Hoult). Now, however, he must put away his resentment and learn to cooperate as together father and son endeavor to obtain the king’s ransom in milk Jinx is demanding.

So it’s off to a dairy farm where Garfield, Vic and Jon’s dog, Odie (voice of Harvey Guillén) — who doubles as Garfield’s best friend — receive training in tactics from Otto (voiced by Ving Rhames), a bull resentful over the treatment his beloved cow has received at the hands of the establishment’s managers. Cue a sequence mildly satirizing various action movie tropes.

There are a few moments of enjoyable comedy and some gentle sentiment. But the script’s lessons about not judging others too hastily and the value of teamwork can’t disguise the slapdash nature of the proceedings.

That said, there’s not much for parents to worry about along Garfield’s path to greater insight. Even the potty humor — seemingly inevitable in kids’ movies — is kept in bounds with only one sight gag and a single throwaway line of dialogue. Tots, however, might find some scenes of peril too frightening.

The film contains cartoon violence, characters in danger and a couple of mild scatological jokes. The OSV News classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Read More Movie & TV Reviews

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Movie Review: ‘Freakier Friday’

Movie Review: ‘The Naked Gun’

Review: ‘Art Detectives,’ streaming, Acorn TV

Movie Review: ‘The Bad Guys 2’

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Movie Review: ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

John Mulderig

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • The ‘both/and’ pope

  • Patrick Brice sentenced to home detention for attacks on elderly pro-life supporters

  • Statue of Confederate general known as anti-Catholic to be reinstalled in nation’s capital

  • Movie Review: ‘The Naked Gun’

  • Gun buyback exceeds expectations, previous totals

| CURRENT EDITION |

CR digital edition

| Vatican News |

Hope is knowing God is always ready to forgive, pope says at audience

Pope prays world leaders recognize their responsibility for peace

Works of mercy are best way to invest what God gave you, pope says

‘Rerum Novarum’ 2.0? Catholic labor advocates heartened by Pope Leo’s direction

Ambassadors call attention to starving Israeli hostages, Gazan civilians

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

| Movie & Television Reviews |

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Movie Review: ‘Freakier Friday’

Movie Review: ‘The Naked Gun’

Review: ‘Art Detectives,’ streaming, Acorn TV

Movie Review: ‘The Bad Guys 2’

| En español |

Cardenal salvadoreño: ‘Queremos vivir la democracia’

León XIV: Pontífice de las fronteras y los puentes

‘No tengan miedo de hacer lo que El Señor quiere para nosotros’

Dios quiere ayudar a las personas a descubrir su valor y dignidad, dice el Papa

El ‘Padre Migrante’ nos relata su vida sirviendo a comunidades inmigrantes

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • For Gazans, the deep silence of hunger has replaced noise of daily life
  • Hope is knowing God is always ready to forgive, pope says at audience
  • Images of Mary: Can we find the Blessed Mother in the Old Testament?
  • Report: Christian church attacks down, but recent totals still higher than 2018-2022
  • How public opinion can influence migration policies
  • Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon
  • Petition filed at Supreme Court seeks overturn of landmark same-sex marriage ruling
  • Head of Spanish political party criticizes Catholic Church’s defense of Muslim community
  • At 80th anniversary Mass in Nagasaki, people urged to bring Christ’s love, peace to world

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en