The Truth About Cats & Dogs
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: April 26, 1996 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
4
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Ms. Garofalo, in a lovely, winning performance, gives Abby lots of heart while also making defensive snappishness a big part of her charm. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It has its own sunsplashed vitality, thanks to spirited writing by Audrey Wells and winning performances from all three principals. Read full review
90
Washington PostRita Kempley
Written by former deejay Audrey Wells, the observant and funny script includes some wonderful scenes for the leading ladies. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Janeane Garofalo in this movie... is so likable, so sympathetic, so revealing of her character's doubts and desires, that she carries us headlong into the story. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The Truth About Cats & Dogs is very funny around the edges... but as the characters begin to hang out together, forming a platonic menage a trois, the mistaken-identity ruse never escalates into true screwball lunacy. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie Errigo
DJ Audrey Wells' crafty screenplay brims with truths about the sexes, providing great lines for Garofalo, and great business for Thurman's confused waif, and cranks the feelgood factor up so high it's almost off the scale. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
There aren't many surprises, but the script is written with a degree of wit, and there are some bitingly funny one-liners (all of which are delivered by Garofalo). Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
You can see the outcome from a distance, but Michael Lehmann ("Heathers") directs with such snap, and the actors play their concert of comic duets and trios with such skill and charm, that The Truth About Cats & Dogs emerges a surprising, first-rate romantic comedy. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman make a bright-eyed comedy team in this romance. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJack Mathews
From the moment we meet Abby, whimsically soothing her callers, we're turned into lap dogs, ready to follow her -- ready to follow Garofalo -- anywhere. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Director Michael Lehmann ("Heathers") nimbly keeps this airy concoction afloat. Read full review
63
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Though its romantic-comedy triangle borrows heavily from Cyrano de Bergerac, the film has more in common with Three's Company. A shame, since Dogs boasts more than a few stray pleasures. [26Apr1996, Pg. 04.D]
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
What really makes The Truth About Cats & Dogs special in places however, is Garofalo's dry, self-effacing wit and Thurman's ditzy, old-style Hollywood glamour. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Though the basic brains-versus-beauty tension suggests a female variation on "The Nutty Professor", this is a softer version of the dilemma than Jerry Lewis offers -- easier to take and easier to forget. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff(Not Credited)
Garofalo and Thurman breathe some eccentric life into the cliches, and charming Chaplin is a walking warning to Hugh Grant, almost adorable enough to warrant all the trouble. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleAlison Macor
Executive producer and screenwriter Audrey Wells' script portrays most of the men as repulsively one-dimensional; the women fare only slightly better as two-dimensional beings: smart and plain, or dumb and drop-dead gorgeous. Read full review
30
The New YorkerSarah Kerr
Garofalo has a certain barbed charm, but it's put to shallow use here. Read full review
12
San Francisco ExaminerBarry Walters
The entire film rings totally fake and the resulting dishonest sentimentality makes you fidget in your seat and count the seconds until the sweet but completely predictable ending. Read full review
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