A Street Cat Named Bob

James Bowen (Luke Treadaway) is a heroin addict on the methadone program, living on the streets in London, busking with a guitar held together by packing tape, foraging for food scraps in dumpsters. He is estranged from his middle-class father (Anthony Head), and his only friend fatally OD’s, yet his case-worker Val (Joanne Froggatt) instinctively believes James has the potential to go clean and arranges for him to have a council flat.

Enter the hero – Bob, a ginger cat (played by the original Bob and several other look-a-likes). Bob sneaks into James’ unit one night and the two quickly become inseparable, start busking together, become a YouTube sensation and are immortalised in a bestselling memoir on which this film is based.

The production values are moderate, the plot has no real peaks, the soundtrack is mostly comprised of the folksy busking songs sung by James – and it is all the more enjoyable because of all that. There is a sense of simplicity, intimacy and realness in this story that is not only in the details but in the telling. It’s the “ginger cat” answer to Red Dog. (RB)

★★★★

BY RITA BRATOVICH