The film begins with a narrator discussing a certain town and its people. Then it focuses on a woman at her job. Her name is Joan, and she is a single mom to two kids.

Her boss chooses her to host the company party at her house. He also warns her that if her home is a mess, she will be fired.

The POV switches to a house with two children. There is Conrad, who is a troublemaker. Then there is Sally, who tries to be the opposite, but can be too controlling.

Conrad attempts to perform a stunt from the second floor to the first floor. Sally admonishes him not to. But he does it anyway – only to crash into his mom and almost ruin her dress for the party.

Shortly after, Joan’s boyfriend, Lawrence, comes. He suggests sending Conrad to military school to correct his behavior. Joan supports that idea.

Then she gets called back into work. So, she gets the babysitter, Mrs. Kwan, to watch her kids.

Right after Mrs. Kwan arrives, Joan goes over a few rules with her children. The biggest one is that no one is to step foot in the living room. Then she leaves.

Mrs. Kwan falls asleep on the couch. Then it rains outside. Conrad and Sally are bored. So, they watch the rain.

At some point, they hear a strange sound. They discover that it’s a tall, anthropomorphic cat wearing a tall hat. They scream and run from him a few times.

Then the cat introduces himself as the cat in the hat. He also tries to measure Conrad and Sally’s flaws. According to his device, Sally is a control freak, and Conrad is a rule breaker.

Sometime later, the pet fish starts talking, and the kids are shocked. The cat then performs a musical number about having fun.

The fish wants the cat to leave, knowing that the kids’ mom will not approve of his presence. The cat agrees with the fish at first. But Conrad convinces him to stay. So, he does.

However, he makes the children review and sign a contract about having fun and what could happen. Then he asks what activity they want to do. Sally wants to make cupcakes.

The cat sets up a show in the kitchen, where there are also two different versions of him. The clones bring out a special machine that can make cupcakes out of anything. They put in a bottle of ketchup, a carton of eggs, and even a fire extinguisher.

Unfortunately, the machine explodes, and the batter gets all over the place. The cat also accidentally cuts off his tail.

Conrad and Sally are worried about the mess. So, the cat brings out a special box that he claims will solve the problem.

Out of the box jumps two figures called Thing 1 and Thing 2. But the things get out of control and make the mess worse. If that’s not bad enough, they only do the opposite of what they’re told.

Thanks to the things, the family dog, Nevins, escapes. So, Conrad, Sally, and the cat go out to look for him.

However, Conrad unlocked the box the cat brought, despite being warned not to. So, different effects leak out of it and mess up the house.

While out in the neighborhood, Sally spots a birthday party where other kids she knows are there. She feels bummed that she wasn’t invited.

Later, when the group can’t find the dog, the cat introduces his special car. He and the kids get in and drive into town.

When there, the cat successfully tricks Lawrence into giving him Nevins. But Lawrence catches him running away with Conrad and Sally. He informs their mom, and Conrad feels screwed. But once he realizes that the things could help, he calls them over. Then they slow down Joan by pretending to be cops, pulling her over, and fighting with each other.

But when the kids and the cat get home, their house has transformed into a messy landscape. They ride Mrs. Kwan, who is still asleep, to get to where they need to go.

The box, however, starts sucking things into it. Even Sally almost gets sucked in until Conrad saves her and locks the box.

The two children are mad at the cat and ask him to leave. They prepare for the worst.

Although this movie is engaging and did not bore me once, it was wacky and even bad. I made a lot of facepalms while watching it at a friend’s house.

Some parts were even gross, and I covered my eyes. For example, there is a scene where the cat wants to break Joan’s rule of not going in the living room, and he has his but exposed. Then he farts.

A wacky moment included the idea of making cupcakes out of anything, including those that are unconventional, like a fire extinguisher. Another time was when the things pulled Joan over and one of them ate her registration. And another was letting everyone drive the cat’s car at the same time, which caused them to spin in a circle.

Despite its PG rating, there was also content that many consider unsuitable for a family-friendly film. For instance, during the cupcake-making scene, right after the cat chops off his tail, he says, “Son of a…” and the first half of the B-word is started. Then it beeped.

I saw this as a kid, too, at 10 years old (but not in the theaters). I learned that taboo word and my mom then got uncomfortable with me and my younger brothers watching this film. A lot of people consider the humor to be inappropriate for kids. That is one of the reasons it did poorly.

Overall, The Cat in the Hat really wasn’t that good. Even though it drew me in, I don’t know if I’d recommend it.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.