The nastiest drag queen in Ireland

Stephen Rea has a droll presence as a conjuror and hypnotist who becomes captivated with Kitten, using him as an assistant and mesmerizing him into thinking his mother is in the audience, for the benefit of a heartless, chortling crowd. Yet Kitten's hypnotized rapture doesn't seem that much different from the real thing. The only person in the film who really comes to life is Brendan Gleeson, playing John-Joe, an itinerant Irish actor who briefly gets Kitten a job in a horrific Wombles theme park. As Great Uncle Bulgaria, John-Joe has a certain authority that is displayed when, in full costume, he punches the haughty English manager for accusing him unjustly of breaking a mallet. Kitten's adventures rattle along divertingly enough, but it is difficult to make any emotional investment in a character who is interested chiefly in himself.