A Street Cat Named Bob

A ginger cat with a big heart helps a recovering drug addict back on the path to reality. 

After spending most of his adult life on the streets, busking, James is ready to put his drug addiction to rest and start afresh. With the help of his social worker James bags himself a housing association flat and discovers his partner in crime to be, in the form of a furry feline friend known as Bob. 

Taken straight out of the pages of James Bowen’s bestselling memoir, this film manages to hit you where it hurts as you slowly fall in love with characters who you would ordinarily dismiss. And with this being actor Luke Threadaway’s (James) first feature film, the acting is actually surprisingly wonderful, which only adds to the main characters already lovable persona.

But it’s not just the humans that are making an impression in this film, as it turns out the cat himself is more than qualified to pull off this extraordinary story. Perhaps because the cat actor used for the films duration is none other than the real-life Bob himself, which is potentially why he is always so character-ready.

With homeless cat films being a rarity, I think that Director Roger Spottiswoode did a remarkable job in orchestrating such a tragically unique page to screen adaptation, and I would certainly recommend giving it a go, if not only to see the relentless cuteness of Bob’s onscreen charisma.