The Story:
Pretty straightforward (well, not exactly straight) plot. Steve Guttenberg plays an out of work actor (no, he's not playing himself) named Jimmy, who's having a really bad New Year's Eve. He has just lost an "acting" job, his apartment has been robbed twice already, the only copy of his half-finished novel was taken during one of those robberies, and he now returns home to discover his girlfriend (Cynthia Watros) is leaving him, and his cat is in the hospital. His life is falling apart. But it's when he's left alone that he finds a gun in his apartment…and a foot sticking out from under his bed. His return home has interrupted another robbery in action! Jimmy intends revenge for his stolen novel, and after a scuffle, the burglar ends up at his mercy, tied face down to the island in his kitchen. From this point on, what we're supposed to see is that Jimmy and his captive, Eddie (Lombardo Boyar) begin to bond as they reveal their personal troubles and woes to each other while Jimmy tries to decide how to punish Eddie in the midst of his irrational emotional breakdown. So, we get a slight twist on the scenario we've seen played out in films such as the absolutely brilliant The Ref, and the Cher film Faithful (anyone remember that one? Shame on you if you're gay, reading this review, and don't know it). Now, P.S., Your Cat Is Dead is cute, has its funny moments and some good performances, but it was nothing really special. First off, I never really got a sense of Jimmy and Eddie, who Jimmy learns is gay, sharing incredibly intimate feelings, which is a problem, because one of the themes of the screenplay is that Jimmy's interactions with the submissively bound Eddie are supposed to make him start questioning his own sexuality. I never felt much flirtation between Jimmy and Eddie. In part, it was because there just wasn't enough interaction between them. Jimmy left the apartment a few times too many (to go to the grocery store, to stop in at a party, etc.). After all, this movie is based on a James Kirkwood play (which was, in turn, based on a novel), and usually, plays that focus on character relationships take place in limited settings. There just wasn't enough screen time between the two characters. Of course, there are foils to the bizarre scenario of a cute guy tied down in Jimmy's kitchen with his bare butt sticking out in the air. Oh, have I elaborated on that upside? It's a major highlight of the film. For some reason, to get revenge on the burglar, Jimmy takes a pair of scissors and cuts the back of Eddie's jeans into chaps, so actor Lombardo Boyer's butt is sticking up for a good part of the movie (way up, because it was one nice bubble butt!). This allows for some of the funnier moments in the film when unexpected guests drop in. And there's one quick scene involving Eddie's butt and an action by another man that was actually the most naughtily gay interchange in the whole movie—but I won't give it away because it's pretty much one of the most pleasant surprises of the film for those waiting for a real gay moment.

Finally, I can not stress enough that you must make sure to watch the alternate ending if you catch this film (see my reasoning in the "extras" section below).

Overall, P.S., Your Cat Is Dead is charming enough to watch once. Oh, and it's definitely a good date movie—for two guys that is.

The DVD

Video:
The movie is presented in a 1:85 anamorphic widescreen format. Very clean looking transfer, nice colors, sharp image. Nothing to complain about here. Very acceptable.

Sound:
The film is presented in Dolby 2.0. Once again, good job. The sound quality was clear and even throughout. Not much need for a 5.1 surround experience, considering most of the film is dialogue and takes place in one room.

Extras:
Behind the scenes footage—this was a nice, short feature, less than 10 minutes, mostly on-camera talks by Steve Guttenberg and some of the actors. Really the most you needed to see as far as a "making of" for this film.

Commentary by Steve Guttenberg, and several of the other actors—this was one of those fun commentaries. You know, the kind where the gathered cast members laugh, have fun, make quips at each other's expense, and truly show they enjoyed working together. In this case, there also ended up being a lot of joking and conversation not related to what was going on in the film. They talked about their fixation with American Idol, the bad CGI in The Hulk and other unrelated topics. Most of the focus about the film came when they could tease Lombardo Boyer about his butt—did he shave it for the film, was he flexing the whole time to make it look so nice, etc. So, clearly the actors in the movie also felt the butt was the "biggest" star.

Trailers—6 TLA previews, two of which were foreign language previews with subtitles.

Alternate Ending—as I mentioned above, you MUST watch the alternate ending if you watch this movie. It's about 16 minutes long, and at first it feels like you are watching the same ending you just finished watching, but there are parts in between that were edited out of the final cut…and there's one single line at the very end of the movie that would have just made the film so much better—and given it that tiny glimmer of gay hope that it really needed. I don't understand why they cut the line out, unless it was to satiate straight viewers—the same viewers who shrieked in disappointment at the theater when they witnessed Kevin Kline finally kiss Tom Selleck in In and Out years ago.

Final Thoughts:
P.S. Your Cat is Dead is an enjoyable take on the burglar/victim bonding scenario, with a gay twist thrown in. It's worth a rental, had just a good enough dose of cute bare butt, but could have used a bit more comedy, more gayness, and more interaction between the two charismatic lead male actors. Okay for a night on the couch with your boyfriend, though.