Cleopatra Music and Film, with sales and distribution
expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be bringing director Roger
Spottiswoode’s 2016 film adaptation of the James Bowen and Garry Jenkins’
best-selling novel, A Street Cat Named Bob, to home entertainment marketplace as
both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings on May 9.
The film had a very limited domestic theatrical break during
the Thanksgiving period this past year (opening on just 24 screens nationwide —
against the likes of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, The
Edge of Seventeen and Nocturnal Animals), thus the DVD
debut in early May will be the first chance for the film to reach a mass
consumer audience. For the record, the
ARR comes in at 172 days and box office receipts totaled $82,703.
Real-life stories are often better tales than their
fictional counterparts … and such is the case here. James Bowen (played by Luke Treadaway — Unbroken,
Clash of the Titans, The Hollow Crown, etc.) lives on the streets in
London as a homeless, drug-addicted failure, who seems — at first — to be the
most unlikely of heroes.
A social worker by the name of Val (Joanne Froggatt — best
known to American audiences as Anna from the Downton Abbey television
series) gets him into a “last chance” program that takes him off the streets
and into a modest apartment.
She’s heard it all — every reason and excuse; every
hustle. But she does her job, gets him
shelter and into a methadone program (trading, in effect, one addiction for
another), but you get the sense that it might be to no avail. Let’s just count the days until he’s back on
the streets.
And then — remember, this is based on a true story — a
miracle happens that will forever change Bowen’s life. A stray cat, with an infected leg, wanders into
his apartment. It must belong to one of
his neighbors, but inquiries prove to be fruitless. What to do?
His neighbor, Betty (Ruta Gedmintas — The Strain, The Incident),
who has issues of her own, suggests a name for the cat, Bob (the cat in the film
is the actual cat, whose name is Bob) and some advice on getting the little guy
nursed back to health. That requires
that Bowen actually do something for someone other than himself … Bob the cat.
The plan is a simple one.
Get Bob’s leg healed, get rid of Bob and then he will be free to get
back to his meaningless, addicted lifestyle.
There’s just one problem, Bob has “adopted” Bowen and will not leave his
side. He rides on the bus with him,
helps him out with his street gigs … and suddenly passers-by take notice of the
two; audiences grow and the legend of Bob the cat is born!
Bonus goodies for this feel-good film include video sessions
with cast members, a still’s gallery and behind-the-scenes footage.
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