Review Fix 2012 Tribeca Film Festival Coverage: Cat Cam Review: Playfully Purr-fect

The arrival of any pet into a loving family is always a story. It may not be one fit for a movie, but it is always a story.

Seth Keal’s “Cat Cam” is a story fit for a movie.

Embracing the American dream and showing us another side of felines, the film is an enjoyable 16-minute diversion you’ll remember as one of the best shorts of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.

The relationship between cat and master is adorable. To see the Perthold’s cat, Mr. Lee, come into the family and completely change the dichotomy is pure, honest and wholesome. Lee eventually turns his biggest detractor, Juergen Perthold, the man of the house, into his most loving fan and confidant and shows us all that feline or not, he’s a pretty damn good photographer. To see the family come from Germany and begin their lives in America with this new addition proves that good things happen to good people with ideas and the work ethic to support their dreams.

While the interviews with the family are fun and off-beat, the photos taken by the cat, with the thanks of Jordan’s home-made camera, give this short a variety and depth not many can claim. The drawings leading up to the creation of the camera are also charming. Make no mistake, as humble as both he and his cat are, they are both special. They deserve our attention.

Keal has done a great job of showing this duo in an honest and intriguing light, which makes this film a poignant one. In a day when feel-good stories don’t get the attention they used to, “Cat Cam” and its ability to make you smile, accomplishes so much more than a million dollar action film.

It’ll make you go grab your cat and give it a hug. Maybe even a kiss.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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