User Reviews

The best thing about Catfight is that it offers a fairly unique and hard to find change of pace from many of the current crop of teen and young adult comedies.

Also on the plus side, it moves from a clearly satirical base into one of the most bizarre and (arguably) violent little feuds ever filmed (in the history of the medium) between two female characters who, presumably, should know better.

"Adults behaving badly" ... on steroids.

Which of course is its charm.

It also boasts performances from Heche and Oh which are not merely good but extraordinary. No matter how bizarre the character, no matter how over-stretched the script and dialog, these two actresses are fully committed to their portrayals.

It is the job of the reviewer to identify analogs of a story to better compare and contrast the production.

In the case of Catfight, this is not as easy as it looks.

While the overall plot can perhaps find resonances (for example) in something like Bad Santa 2003 (the first one, not the sequel) the overall tone and wickedness of the story, the complete disregard for anything resembling a normal dramatic narrative -- such as for example the over-utilization of "coma" as a continuity device? -- would require a trip back in time to the so-called experimental films of the 1960s.

Overall the final effect is remarkably like a car accident that attracts rubber-neckers, moreso than a cinematic breakthrough that attracts fans.

In other words, it is fun, novel, and interesting on first viewing. Something to tell your friends about.

But whether you would ever want to see another film just like it remains an open question.

This certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea but I quite enjoyed the sheer nihilistic futility of it all. Catfight is certainly original and takes on a narrative that keeps you guessing right to the end. There are some great digs at the pretentiousness of modern art and some gloriously violent fight scenes. You may hate it but it's definitely worth a try if you enjoy black comedy.

I think it was Kapuscinski who wrote "war is but a series of revenges with an untraceable origin", then there´s Gandhi and his famous "eye for an eye and the world will go blind". Some might despise this film for being such an obvious allegory but it´s just too rich. It might lose some balance at times between its despicable characters and their meaning but nonetheless, it does work on both levels, personally and globally. A tight structure allows the film to expose its point with sharpness and confidence. It´s able to settle years of war debate in a 30 seconds piece of dialogue. It goes from social critique to symbolism to downright comedy in a matter of seconds, totally in control.

Comically, it works, oh yes. There´s something oddly funny about two people grudging obsessively over the years. I think "The Duellists" had a lot of unintentional humor. This one embraces the absurd concept. It ironically glorifies violence featuring ridiculous punch sound effects and it never gets too close to the character´s misfortunes. It´s a comedy, first of all.

Conceptually, it stays neutral, and that´s no joke. Aggresions and affronts are equaly terrible on both sides. That is extremely important not to lose its validity. One can argue that Catfight has a few missteps but it´s certainly not clumsy. Better than that, it´s absolutely hilarious.

A weird and twisted character study of self absorbed, clueless narcissists ad nauseum.

I know, it's supposed to be a clever dark comedy, but having actually encountered more than a few examples of the very characters portrayed here in the real world, it was more like watching the equivalent of experiencing nails on a chalkboard.

I'm not knocking the film, or caliber of acting and direction, quite the contrary. As a film, it's actually a very well created production.

As a sort of snapshot into a world which really exists (well, sort of), perhaps it's a bit too realistic for comfort.

OK, the art gallery fight scene was more than a bit over the top.

Not to deliver any spoilers here, but perhaps an apt description could be summarized as a spectacular reversal of fortune story, mapped into a bizarre parallel universe of quirky characters and seemingly impossible scenarios which are actually all too real, depending upon which version of reality one might encounter at some seemingly random moment.

Not sure how to rate this, might not be for everyone, but it is definitely unique. A cautious seven stars . . .

Raaaaaaaooooh! Yes, there is a "Catfight" going on (even more than one), and it lasts a long time. The black & blue comedy "Catfight" stars Sandra Oh and Anne Heche as two former college frenemies who reunite and end up knocking the lights out of each other. Sandra Oh plays Veronica, a trophy wife who is against her teenage son's wishes of becoming an artist. Anne Heche plays Ashley, a struggling lesbian artist who moonlights as a caterer. When Veronica and Ashley unexpectedly see each other at Veronica's husband business party, the claws come out and they both end up in some sort of violent punch drunk love; OK, maybe not love. Consequently, there is a punch domino effect of their brawl and brawls that turn each others life completely around; which I won't spoil cause you will punch me in the face. Writer-Director Onel Turkel pulls no punches in directing the movie with "over the top" farce; which sometimes pleasures your guilty bones while at other times it's too much to take. Nevertheless, I strangely was compelled by the antics of "Catfight"; especially with one particular scene with Veronica's looney aunt who names trees. Both Oh and Heche were excellent in their energetic roles. However, Alicia Silverstone as Ashley's lesbian lover seemed clueless to me. "Catfight" will not make it to 9 lives of reinvention but it's still worth the punch. **** Good

I think this film could actually be used to measure a human being's self-worth. How far you made it through this travesty of a film is probably a good indicator of how much you like yourself.

If you quit in the first 5 minutes or so you probably really love yourself, and that's likely reflective a very healthy mental state.

If you made it 15 minutes in you're probably still in good shape in terms of self-worth, so go you!

If you made it closer to half an hour in like I did, you might need little bit of an ego boost. You're a good person! You shouldn't have to suffer like that!

If it took you closer to an hour to turn this garbage off, it's time to rethink things. You're better than this. Your time is worth more than this. Buck up, little camper!

If you watched the whole thing... well, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you don't love yourself, and I'm sorry no one has ever loved you enough to teach you that you are special and you have worth. But you are! You really are worth more than this, and so is your time.

You know what, you should go to an animal shelter and play with the puppies. Puppies will love you (puppies love everyone), and they will show you that you have worth. Maybe think about adopting one. It'll help take your mind off the horror you inflicted on yourself for the last couple hours.

Man this movie is dark. Did I mention that? It is unrelentingly ugly, and brutal in its view of its characters. They're not nice people and they have a long long way to go to get any sense of redemption, and they're a portrayal of the American psyche. A brutal look at modern day America and its inability to see the wrong footed path and twisted self perception. We don't see many movies made along these lines in our sanitised-made-for-forgettable-entertainment-kicks media world. This film is brave to take that on.

It's certainly got its faults. The sound design and music is pretty unpleasant, or maybe that's the point. The fight scenes are brutal and at the same time comic book with their sound effect CD punch sounds and silly unrealistic choreography and duration. For me they watered down the movie and made it drag. The the unrelenting darkness of the story and almost lack of resolution or forward motion and lesson learned, but again, maybe that was intentional. It certainly doesn't leave a pleasant taste in the mouth and even though the actors do a great job it's had to say that cos you dislike the characters so much.

The good bit is the social satire and commentary going on here. It harks back to 60s and 70s social commentary cinema that we really need now more than every to give us insight into our present world. The near future the film portrays is one that has let itself slip into war, and the draft, and believing it's own propaganda, and the stupidity and uncaring nature of its health system.

It is a funny movie, in that there are comical details in it, but it's not played for laughs, and these aren't laugh out loud moments.

This most certainly is a good film, a brave film, a challenging film, an unrelentingly honest film. Did I enjoy it? I don't know, am I supposed to?

It made me think though.

Having watched this at the world premiere at TIFF, and having known some of the directors previous work I had High hopes for this one. However I am Anne Heche's portrayal of her character was so poorly acted and felt so strange it is beyond forgiveness.

Sandra Oh on the other hand did deliver a beautiful performance in a sh!t tier movie. They brag that it was shot in 16 days. They should've took a little longer on it. I know Summer of Blood may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but this falls far short of even that.

Director Onur Tukel has really fallen down with this one.

Sandra Oh is the only reason this received a 2 star rating. Without her, I would have asked IMDb to enact a 0 star designation to this crap festival.

'CATFIGHT': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

An action-comedy written and directed by veteran indie filmmaker Onur Tukel. It stars Sandra Oh and Anne Heche as two women involved in a very bitter, and sometimes extremely violent, lifelong rivalry. The movie costars Alicia Silverstone, Amy Hill, Giullian Yao Gioiello, Craig Bierko and Dylan Baker. It had a limited release in indie theaters, and on video on demand, and now it's available to rent on video. It's a crazy film, but surprisingly insightful (in a really dark and twisted way).

Veronica Salt (Oh) and Ashley Miller (Heche) were friends in college, but they drifted apart over the years. Veronica is now a wealthy housewife, with a teenage son (Gioiello). Ashley is now a struggling artist, that's trying to conceive a child with her girlfriend (Silverstone). When the two meet at a party, after not seeing each other for several years, they immediately start judging and offending each other. Then the insults turn into a violent (and very bloody) brawl, that leaves the two in a bitter grudge match for many years to come.

The film is definitely funny, but in a really disturbing and gloomy way. It's also very violent, in a very shocking and unsettling way as well. The script is pretty clever though, and the two lead performances are both great in it. It's a hard movie to watch at times, and it doesn't leave you feeling very positive about things when it's over, but it is a very interesting and insightful film too. I would definitely still recommend it.

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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 is by very far one of the worst movies I've seen, EVER!!!

This film tells the story of two women who have been adversaries in high school. They meet each other again in a party, and a huge fight entails.

"Catfight" is a rare comedy that is funny and thought provoking at the same time. The similarity of two women in both the ways they treat other people, and their experiences are remarkable. It tells the message that what comes around goes around, and fortunes are impermanent. Holding grudges aren't the way to go either, even though the three women in the film all hold grudges spectacularly. I enjoyed watching the film.

"I lost everything because of you." Veronica (Oh) and Ashley (Heche) were good friends in college but have grown apart and their lives are in very different places. Veronica is a trophy wife who likes to drink and Ashley is a struggling artist. When they meet up again after many years old emotions come up and a chain of events begins that changes each others lives in ways no one could have imagined. This is a movie that is difficult to define. It is billed and advertised as a comedy. On one hand there are parts in this that I did laugh at but it felt really wrong. Saying this is a dark comedy is an understatement at best. On the other hand, this is one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. The moments that make you smile are immediately followed by ones that leave you shocked and fighting back tears. This is a movie where I was really confused as to why this is labeled as a comedy. Overall, this is not a bad movie but the advertisements really do this an injustice and is not what you expect. More extremely depressing than funny. Decent but hard to recommend. I give this a C+.

I've always been a Heche, Oh fan and who can forget Clueless. With that said go to a blood and guts illegal bare knuckles fight to near death. Choose the three worst rounds. Space the rounds one per 30 or so minutes of screen time, fill the rest with a hideous screenplay and voila, you have this movie. Also, some totally illogical violence. You bean someone in the head with a ROCK and no sequela? Use hammers, boards and no broken bones? But on the flip side three of the longest sequences I've seen on film of two women beating the crap out of one another's faces and body blows. You may or may not like the ending IF you can find it. On the very big plus side, for reasons I cannot figure out, I don't recall any hair pulling, the very attack in most all catfights. Finally a hint of its comedic side(dialog changed to avoid spoiler): She asks: Why are you helping me. Reply: Because I enjoy looking at you knowing you've suffered unimaginable personal loss. It does not get much funnier then that.

Catfight is a comedy about two colleges friends who hates each other. One fight leads to a sort of a butterfly effect... Seriously this movie was so weird that it is fantastic. Cant even explain it :D Acting is great and movie has those fun comedy parts, but this movie dark and sad. This movie is not a sentimental cry movie. It did not make me laugh out loud for maybe twice, but it made me think. Dont know to whom i should recommend this.. this movie was great tho! Judge for yourself!

A bit violent and in places predictable, but other devices were employed which were just great. I love this, not a thinking persons film but a lot of fun.

Love the cast so I was expecting a little more I suppose. This movie was literally Peter and the Chicken fighting, remember those seemingly endless scenes?! Couple years of pause, fighting again... oh and nice shout out to the Simpson's too with the wrench to the head but didn't hurt anyone gag. Good story about how fragile one's place in society is regardless of $ in the bank ( especially when you have for profit health care as your only option in times of need)

It is one of those movies you just go on and on, trying to find a reason for what's happening. By the end, you are trying to find a reason for spending 2 hours of your quality time on this absolut crap.

There's a really good movie in here, trying to escape and transcend the trashy selling point of girl-on-girl violence. When it comes, it is shocking and over-extended, in a way that can only mean someone is getting a kick out of it, thus cheapening the film and taking it perilously close to Russ Meyer, "Faster, Pussycat" territory. Then there's the lesbian couple, who don't get violent but who do a lot of tongues, again unnecessary and overdone. Underneath it all is a fresh and original take on family relations, mother-daughter jealousy, pseudiness in the art scene, etc.