Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

A Street Cat Named Bob

Play trailer 1:40 Poster for A Street Cat Named Bob Released Nov 18, 2016 1h 43m Drama Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
77% Tomatometer 65 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A stray ginger cat changes the life of James Bowen (Luke Treadaway), a homeless London street musician and recovering drug addict.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

A Street Cat Named Bob

A Street Cat Named Bob

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A Street Cat Named Bob uses a fact-based feelgood tale as the inspiration for an unapologetically heartwarming movie that should move all but the most cynical of viewers.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (65)
David Stratton The Australian Veteran director Roger Spottiswoode makes the most of this appealing yarn and has fun showing us a Bob's-eye view of the streets of London. Rated: 3.5/5 Feb 10, 2017 Full Review J. R. Jones Chicago Reader This dramatization... plays like a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie, touching lightly on serious social issues before turning into a Cinderella story. Jan 19, 2017 Full Review Cath Clarke Time Out There's a telly-ish feel to much of A Street Cat Named Bob, an attempt to sanitise life on the streets... But it's impossible to watch a film about a happy-ending story like James and Bob's without a warm glow. Rated: 3/5 Nov 30, 2016 Full Review Charlotte Harrison Charlotte Sometimes Goes to the Movies What this movie offers, unlike many other films in cinemas at the moment, is the feel-good factor. Oct 8, 2020 Full Review Naomi Soanes One Room With A View Nothing other than a 'woe is me' tale of a drug addict who happened to be offered a second chance - with a few cat puns thrown in. Rated: 1/5 Mar 14, 2019 Full Review Sarah Cartland Caution Spoilers A warm if formulaic film. Treadaway offers a measured and thoughtful performance opposite Bob in a role that was probably trickier than it looks. How do you act with a cat? Is it like green screen work where you give your all to an emotional vacuum? Rated: 3/5 Jan 10, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (215)
Kyle C Predictable and clichè, but still very heartwarming and satisfying, especially knowing that it’s based on a true story. Luke Treadaway plays the sympathetic character very well and I found it really refreshing to see him actually playing guitar and singing for real. It makes it much more grounded and raw, something this story really needed. Bob the Cat, who stars as himself and is also the actual, real cat from the story on which the film is based, is freaking adorable and incredibly talented. This movie could have easily gotten into wonky CGI-animal territory, but it steers clear, again giving the whole thing a sense of realism. That all said, this movie really romanticizes and idealizes the struggles of homelessness, addiction, and poverty. Strangers are assholes when the plot needs them to be and they’re warm and kind when the plot needs them to be. James is written as a diamond in the rough – a true down-on-his-luck underdog who really tries but life just keeps beating him. That’s nice, but it ignores so many aspects of what can contribute to people ending up in these situations. My take is that, given that this is based on an autobiographical book, it’s very easy to write yourself as the hero. It’s a lot harder to write yourself as a flawed, nuanced character. So it’s understandable but an area for improvement. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/03/25 Full Review Audience Member Good movie. Very kind Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/30/24 Full Review Erica v Heartwarming story of love and redemption Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/26/23 Full Review Jacob B While it does follow some of the expected narrative beats (yes, based on a true story but still...), A Street Cat Named Bob is nevertheless a heartwarming biopic that does a good job dramatising real events allowing for a compelling non-fiction story about recovery that doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of drug addiction (a scene in the climax where the main human protagonist goes through a harrowing week's worth of withdrawal symptoms is surprisingly tense) but is otherwise quite wholesome. And that's thanks to the adorable feline co-star at its centre, played by the genuine article (hey, it worked for Dolphin Tale). Sad to hear that he passed away during the early months of the pandemic. At least his life has now been immortalised on film...twice. But that film is a story for another day or, should I say, another month, at the time of writing this review. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/13/23 Full Review larisa t Beautifully filmed and acted. Bob the Cat is a natural, and the movie is great. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/15/23 Full Review d h Fantastic surprise of a film. Well deserving of its awards. I didn't read the book, but I found this honest and engaging. If Hollywood had done this, they would have ruined it by making the cat more "magic" or some such. As it happens, life itself is magic enough when people get a second chance to make things right. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Street Cat Named Bob

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

A Street Cat Named Bob

View more videos
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll 72% 66% Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Watchlist Memoria 100% 47% Memoria Watchlist TRAILER for Memoria The Look of Love 56% 34% The Look of Love Watchlist My Friend Dahmer 85% 61% My Friend Dahmer Watchlist TRAILER for My Friend Dahmer Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A stray ginger cat changes the life of James Bowen (Luke Treadaway), a homeless London street musician and recovering drug addict.
Director
Roger Spottiswoode
Producer
Adam Rolston
Screenwriter
Tim John, Maria Nation
Distributor
Cleopatra Films
Production Co
Iris Productions, Prescience
Genre
Drama, Biography
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 18, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$35.1K
Runtime
1h 43m
Most Popular at Home Now