Abbey (Garofalo) is the insecure host of a radio talk show. When one of her callers Brian (Chaplin) asks her out, she at first agrees but is too shy to go meet him. When Brian tries to track her down Abbey gets her model neighbor Noelle (Thurman) to stand in as her. While Abbey and Noelle try in vain to break their true identities to Brian, they both begin to fall in love with him.

The Truth about Cats and Dogs is a charming lightweight romantic comedy that should please everyone. It has likeable characters, some occasionally very witty dialogue and a vaguely original story line, a female twist on Cyrano De Bergerac. The strength of the film comes from the relationship between Abbey and Noelle rather than from the romantic complications with Brian. The whole situation seems just a tad too unbelievable if you think about it too much, so it pays not to. You have to take the huge coincidences and the astonishing good faith of Brian as given.

The performances are terrific. Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman play off each other surprisingly well as Abby and Noelle making an endearing, if obvious, odd couple. Abby who is insecure about her looks is afraid to put herself on the line with men, preferring the safety of pets. Noelle conversely feels she is unintelligent and allows herself to get used by the men in her life. Together they learn, in a thankfully non-heavy-handed way, to accept themselves for the way they are.

Noelle: "You and I combined make the perfect woman."

Abby: "No you and I combined make the perfect political prisoner. What we really do well is act self-righteous and starve."

It's the perfect vehicle for Garofalo's detached persona and she consistently shows her knack for delivering barbed one-liners. She also makes a good job of real acting and can effectively show emotion. Thurman is totally convincing as the sweet-natured bubblehead Noelle. She makes the character amusingly dopey but also brings a warmth and pathos to her that lesser actors would have missed.

Chaplin offers able support as the hapless Brian but really only exists to give the two female leads something to work off. It's good to see a "chick flick" that doesn't paint all men as assholes though.

The Truth about Cats and Dogs was a definite return to form for Michael Lehmann who after directing the very dark teen comedy Heathers misfired with Hudson Hawk. The film stands out in its genre because it manages to supply all the crowd-pleasing charm of a Hollywood romantic comedy while still retaining an intelligent and knowing sensibility in both its script and its performances.

Uma creates a tremendously likeable character with Noelle. It is yet another faultless performance, making the most out of both funny and emotional situations. It's true that Garafalo gets most of the good lines, but Uma makes sure that she is more than just an appendage. It's a refreshingly sincere performance too, not merely the usual 'smart girl playing dumb' that ends up just mocking the character. Uma makes Noelle a fully realized, multi-dimensional character, that actually gains more sympathy than Abby at times. Which makes it all the more annoying when Noelle is seemingly forgotten in the final scenes.

It's a pretty thankless role, Garofalo gets all the kudos for essentially playing herself, while Uma does all the acting. It would seem like a strange choice for Uma, especially when she could have been cashing in on her Pulp Fiction success with something, well, bigger. It appears though that Uma chose the role as a bit of light relief in amongst some more serious roles that were planned, namely the Louis Malle Marlene Dietrich biopic and an adaptation of Henry James' Wings of the Dove. Now unfortunately neither of those actually eventuated for Uma and she was left with only the "light relief" in the time frame. While being a nice film and a nice performance, it still highlights what turned out to be somewhat of a flat spot in Uma's career. She certainly never seems to speak fondly of it.

Uma Thurman: "It's gotten to this point where actresses are painted into a corner to play women who are intelligent and should be respected, as if there should be some agenda in roles you play. I thought, `What the hell, I'll play a stupid bimbo.' Besides, it's supposed to be subversive feminist comedy and my character is terribly nice."