Looking for Kitty (2004)

37% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
35% of users liked it
(13,607 ratings)

Two guys with different sets of problems find themselves bonding through unexpected circumstances in this independent comedy drama from writer and director Edward Burns. Jack Stanton (Edward Burns) is a former New York City cop who has been trying to establish a new career as a private detective,… More Two guys with different sets of problems find themselves bonding through unexpected circumstances in this independent comedy drama from writer and director Edward Burns. Jack Stanton (Edward Burns) is a former New York City cop who has been trying to establish a new career as a private detective, though his level of success is best indicated by the fact his landlord is about to evict him for not paying the rent. Jack finally lands a paying client when he's referred to Abe Fiannico (David Krumholtz), a high-school baseball coach whose wife, Kitty, has disappeared. The only clue Abe has to her whereabouts is a recent newspaper photo that shows a washed-up rock star hanging out with several women, one of whom is a dead ringer for Kitty. Jack sets out to scour the Big Apple in search of Kitty, and Abe tags along; a friendship grows between the two men, and Jack begins to wonder why regular-guy Abe ever got mixed up with a woman who doesn't seem to have much use for him. Also featuring Rachel Dratch and Chris Parnell, Looking for Kitty premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Edward Burns
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: May 6, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Oct 24, 2006
Studio: ThinkFilm

Critic Reviews

Scott Brown, Entertainment Weekly
Sentimental yet insensate, this forgotten '04 trifle is Burns at his worst ...
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Burns turns in a nicely understated performance; but it's David Krumholtz, as Abe, who's the backbone of the movie.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Looking for Kitty offers moments of striking insight amid the inevitable self-indulgence.
Laura Kern, New York Times
A disgruntled New York City private investigator forms an unlikely bond with a high school baseball coach from upstate in Edward Burns's latest exercise in maleness.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
It might be the most maturely conceived role in Burns's films, but the plot around it is flimsy, the visual storytelling simpleminded, and the general ideas for character one-note.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
Burns returns to the themes he knows best: old-fashioned young men trying to figure out the world and the ways of women while forging kind of unlikely friendships.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
They're just too dull, and we start to sympathize with the women who left them both behind.
Pam Grady, FilmStew.com
Burns and Numbers' David Krumholtz are very good in portraying Jack and Abe's need to re-establish a human connection.
Chris Barsanti, Film Journal International
Burns seems not nearly as engaged with his story as one would hope. And why should he be? He could write another like this before lunch.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Another unsatisfying exploration of masculine anomie written, directed by and starring Edward Burns.
Timothy Knight, Reel.com
Burns simply doesn't delve deeply enough into his characters for them to have sufficient emotional resonance for the viewer.
Noel Murray, AV Club
Give Edward Burns at least a little credit for perseverance, because just about any other writer-director-actor who released a movie every couple of years to critical shrugs and audience indifference would've long since hung up his megaphone.
Edward Douglas, ComingSoon.net
Ends up being a bit erratic ... the whole thing culminating in an oddly unsatisfying conclusion
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
The real holdout is Burns, whose habitual regurgitation of well-trod themes (romantic loss, masculine bonding, and maturation) continues to pay ever-smaller dividends.
Eric Lurio, Greenwich Village Gazette
No climax, no real resolution, no nothing. One can understand why it remained on a shelf since it played Tribeca over two years ago.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
One of the best films of the year catches the loss and loneliness of two men unwilling to let go of the past and step into a new day.