The Rabbi's Cat Review

Messages: The Rabbi's Cat explores themes of religion and philosophy and why people should attempt to coexist in peace while respecting one another's personal differences in beliefs and politics.

Role models: The rabbi adheres to Jewish law but considers many other perspectives as well. He respects his distant cousin who's a Muslim, and he's willing to teach his talking cat about Judaism, even though his mentor and rabbi tells him it's a bad idea. Zlabya is a strong female character, as is the Russian's African wife, both of whom state their mind with conviction. The Sfar cousin, like the rabbi, is open minded and abhors violence for violence's sake.

Violence: After a lot of threatening looks and words, the Russian fights a Muslim to the death with a gun and swords and then is killed himself. Viewers see animated blood pooling around the dead bodies. There are a few fist fights and close calls during a difficult journey, and a cat kills and eats mice, a parrot, and other birds. A Russian pogrom is depicted in a more cartoonish style than the rest of the animated film, but some of the scenes are still violent.

Sex: The rabbi's beautiful daughter is voluptuous and wears a traditional, midriff-baring Algerian outfit. The cat mentions how much he loves to nuzzle against her breast. An attractive young couple flirts and spends the night together. The woman is shown bare-backed and then in bed, where it's obvious the couple has had sex. They kiss passionately a few times, get married, and expect a baby.

Language: Subtitled strong language includes insults like "idiot," "stupid," "devil," and "Satan," plus "bulls--t," "asses," and "go to hell."

Consumerism: A Citroen jeep is featured.

Drinking, drugs and smoking: Characters drink wine and vodka, and one sequence in which a Russian gets notably drunk leads to his offensive behavior and eventual death. Several characters smoke hookahs.