And let's not forget Anthony Head (who is always immensely likable) as James's dad and has a wonderful scene towards the end of the film when he finally shows his true feelings. James's support worker Val is wonderfully played out by Joanne Froggatt from Downton Abbey and fans of Mike Leigh films will also recognise Ruth Sheen popping up too.
The supporting cast are all fine too, although the neighbour 'Betty' seems a little too kooky and convenient for my liking.
I should point out that the film also has a light side too, with touches of comedy alongside the seriousness. If this film inspires one other person to turn their life around like Bob motivated James to do, or even stops one person turning to drugs as an escape then it will have done its job. And some credit must go to the screenwriter for showing the degrading and tragic side of drug addiction without making it too overtly harrowing. Here we have a small story that must have been a very delicate balancing act to get right at the script stage, a mixture of comedy & pathos that has to be able to not offend a family audience and yet deal with a serious subject matter and the huge uphill struggle James has to deal with, his desire to get clean of addiction for once and for all. He made the Tom Hanks comedy Turner & Hooch a long time ago so he has form of working with animals and humans but this film is a million miles (and millions of dollars) away from that Disney crowd-pleaser. Roger Spottiswoode is a talented director (just look at his CV) and yet he feels a strange choice to direct this. In this regard the film falls between two stalls and despite trying hard, can never quite make up it's mind what it purports to try to be. In the UK the film is rated 12 so it is neither a kiddies film about a cute cat nor is it quite the Trainspotting style view of a man trying desperately to kick his drug dependency. The film is based on a true story and yet weirdly it suffers a bit from being too adult (in parts) to be a real family film yet it almost comes over as a severely compromised view of the world of drug addiction and thus will be a bit of a disappointment to those expecting a deep character study. Bob needed a home and someone to look after him and James needed Bob to find the strength to save himself and a sense of purpose in life. You could almost hear the audience warm to him from the first time we see him, helping himself to a box of cereal. A gorgeous ginger Tom, he is adorable and just oozes charm despite not having any dialogue. But let's be honest, Bob (as himself) totally steals every scene he is in. For a start Luke Treadaway does a solid job as James Bowen, the lead character.
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