The Truth About Cats & Dogs Information

The Truth About Cats & Dogs is a 1996 American romantic comedy film, starring Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman, Ben Chaplin, and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Audrey Wells. The original music score was composed by Howard Shore.

Plot summary

Abby Barnes (Garofalo) is a veterinarian who hosts a Los Angeles radio show called The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Her advice is sensible; as she tells a radio caller, "Dogs don't like to be left alone. It's not like, when you leave, he goes, 'Great, time to finish writing my novel!' No, when their humans leave, dogs get depressed, and they show it."

Abby becomes friends with her neighbor Noelle Slusarsky (Thurman), a "traditionally attractive" model who is sweet but not very bright, when Abby overhears Noelle's boyfriend/manager, Roy (James McCaffrey), verbally abusing her on the doorstep. Abby says to Noelle, "Your name is Dumb Bitch too? No wonder I keep getting all of your mail. You know, we could be related. There are a lot of us dumb bitches here in L.A." Noelle is encouraged by this show of solidarity and courage. They begin to spend time together. Noelle says, "You and I combined make the perfect woman." Abby, realizing that Noelle means "good looks plus good brains," shows her wit by digging for something more subtle: "No. You and I combined make the perfect political prisoner. What we really do well is act self-righteous and starve."

When Abby makes a blind date with a caller to her show, Brian (Chaplin), her insecurity about being short and brunette leads her to persuade Noelle to pretend to be Abby when meeting the date. (Noelle has her own insecurities; she starves herself and smokes cigarettes.) Unfortunately, both women develop feelings for the man, leading to a comedic series of misunderstandings as the unintended consequences of their deception grow deeper.

Brian's persistance in pursuing "Abby" is continually thwarted as Noelle alternately eludes him and tries to manoeuver him toward the real Abby. Then one night Abby receives a phone call from Brian and they talk until dawn; they take baths while talking, make sandwiches while talking, she plays her violin for him, he reads to her from Roland Barthes's Camera Lucida, and ultimately they masturbate over the phone. They have clearly fallen in love during these "seven hours," but when Brian appears outside her window at 4 a.m., she masks her face and tells him to go away, afraid to show that she is not Noelle.

After hearing this, Noelle has a brilliant thought: she will go to Brian's house, then turn on the radio during Abby's program, thus proving that she cannot be Abby: "Have you ever noticed how Superman and Clark Kent are never in the same room at the same time?"

In quest of this plan, Noelle goes to Brian's, where he feeds her slices of cake and gives her a present: the Lettres à Sartre (Letters to Sartre) by Simone de Beauvoir. Noelle says, baffled, "It's a book." Brian worries that she already owns it; she reassures him that her surprise is only that "no one's ever given me a book before that didn't have pictures in it." The conversation turns to farce:

Brian: It's funny how self-conscious we both are, considering.
Noelle (puzzled): What do you mean, 'self-conscious'?
Brian: I mean, you know, you have to admit you're not the same person you were on the phone last night.
Noelle: That's true.
Brian (intensely): Why? Is it because we did—
Noelle: It's because I'm stupid.
Brian (stammering): Well, me too! Completely feeble-minded. All you have to do is get near me, and I turn into this gibbering idiot. You're so clever, and funny, and modest, and sweet. And you're so, you're really so [he stutters over the word "beautiful"]. I mean, my God. Look at you. You're an angel.

Noelle is charmed and they kiss; then the radio announces that Abby's show is about to begin. Noelle starts to confess, but Brian drives her to the studio so that "Abby" can do her show. With farcical suspense, Brian turns on the car radio and hears Abby calmly answering questions. While Noelle races into the studio building, Brian follows, determined to solve this mystery. Noelle is falling for Brian, but manages to reach the studio and put on headphones, while Abby hides under the desk.

Abby becomes jealous one night when the three are together doing a photo shoot (at first, Brian is fascinated by capturing Abby's face, but then becomes more fascinated by Noelle), and, a bit drunk, Abby challenges Brian: "If you were trapped in Biosphere 2 for three years, who would you bring: Time Magazine's Woman of the Year or Playboy's Playmate of the Year?" Abby realizes she is drunk and leaves. It appears that Brian and Noelle go to bed together, though Abby learns later that Noelle left, too.

Brian, distressed by Noelle's changing attitude, corners "Donna" (Abby's pretend-name) in Abby's apartment where he finds evidence of Abby's real identity. As Abby and Noelle attempt to explain, Brian becomes convinced that he is the target of a practical joke and leaves in disgust.

Days later, Abby approaches Brian at his regular bar and explains what happened, but Brian curtly dismisses her. Weeks later, Brian's dog appears at the radio station with a pair of roller skates and instructions for Abby to put them on. When she does so, the dog drags her to an outdoor park where Brian is waiting for her. He explains that Abby and Noelle's antics had left him confused, but that it was Abby that he had fallen for during their phone conversations, and that the only reason he was attracted to Noelle was because he thought she was Abby. He suggests they start again, and Abby happily agrees.

Cast

Actor	Role
Uma Thurman	Noelle Slusarsky
Janeane Garofalo	Abby Barnes
Ben Chaplin	Brian
Jamie Foxx	Ed
James McCaffrey	Roy
Richard Coca	Eric
Stanley DeSantis	Mario
Antoinette Valente	Susan
Mitch Rouse	Bee Man
David Cross	Male Radio Caller (voice) Bookstore Man
Mary Lynn Rajskub	Female Radio Caller (voice)
Bob Odenkirk	Bookstore Man

Themes

Many movie reviewers found a similarity to the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, with Abby as the talented but "ugly" Cyrano, Noelle as Christian (Noel is another name for Christmas), and Brian as Roxane.

Uma Thurman said about the ugly-versus-beautiful theme, "We probably keep going back to that idea because there's a whole industry that needs to sell a lot of products that wants us to think that the outside is the important part. There's a war going on. The inside's not as commercial as the outside. People are so affected by how they're received in the world, and some of all of our first experiences are based on how we're externally judged. The conflict between the inner and the outer is a constant battle everybody experiences on lots of levels."