When the Cat's Away...

Play trailer

When the Cat's Away...

R

Released Jun 20, 1996

1h 30m

Romance

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Chloé (Garance Clavel) desperately wants to go on vacation but needs to find a caretaker for her cat, Gris-Gris. After her flamboyant roommate, Michel (Olivier Py), declines to help, Chloé entrusts her cat to Madame Reneé (Renée Le Calm). When she returns from her trip, Chloé learns Gris-Gris has disappeared without a trace. Determined to find her precious cat, Chloé turns to, among others, Djamel (Zinedine Soualem), a shy Arab, and a hard-drinking musician (Romain Duris) for help.

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

When the Cat's Away is like a very subtle, curious, edgy documentary, in which we get interested in Chloe because she has lost her cat, and by the end we almost have to be reminded that the cat is missing.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Steve Davis

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Dan Lybarger

Nitrate Online

A charming French import with lots of heart.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 25, 2005

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jun 29, 2005

Full Review

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rated: 4/5

Mar 19, 2004

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

Even though understand it was a 1996 French film, & directed by Cédric Klapisch, still can't quite stand for its trivia & hollowness.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Characters and relations!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very good movie, but very hard to find.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the most favorite French movie of mine !

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sympathique petite aventure parisienne, c'est sympathique, frais, Ã§a rappelle Mon Oncle et c'est bien plus lÃ©ger que la meringuee Amelie Poulain

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

View it at Broadway when it was founded in 1990s. Like the cat named Grey-grey in French.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Cédric Klapisch

Director

Garance Clavel

Chloé

Zinedine Soualem

Djamel

Olivier Py

Michel

Renée Le Calm

Madame Renée

Romain Duris

Le joueur de batterie

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Two if by Sea

13%

23%

Two if by Sea

Watchlist

Addicted to Love

55%

50%

Addicted to Love

Watchlist

A Life Less Ordinary

41%

59%

A Life Less Ordinary

Watchlist

Grosse Pointe Blank

82%

86%

Grosse Pointe Blank

Watchlist

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

50%

66%

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Chloé (Garance Clavel) desperately wants to go on vacation but needs to find a caretaker for her cat, Gris-Gris. After her flamboyant roommate, Michel (Olivier Py), declines to help, Chloé entrusts her cat to Madame Reneé (Renée Le Calm). When she returns from her trip, Chloé learns Gris-Gris has disappeared without a trace. Determined to find her precious cat, Chloé turns to, among others, Djamel (Zinedine Soualem), a shy Arab, and a hard-drinking musician (Romain Duris) for help.

Director: Cédric Klapisch
Producer: Aïssa Djabri, Farid Lahouassa, Manuel Munz
Screenwriter: Cédric Klapisch
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 20, 1996, Original
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.8M
Runtime: 1h 30m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1