Looking for Kitty

As an unabashed Ed Burns fan, it can be hard to find a way to defend him, to both haters and people who have no idea who he is. Burns polarizes the movie community, oddly enough. He has both a shy diminutive fan base of people who actually enjoy films and, in that consideration, those same people place his movies within that judgmental realm of filmdom. The other side of Burns' fan base is not unlike that of bands like Matchbox 20, inasmuch as soccer moms or middle-aged women who think he's cute and adore him.

Sure, Burns lacks a certain unspoken acting ability and his films all seem to wander around the same territory: the self-obsessed New Yorker, struggling with issues of fidelity. Sounds a lot like another self-obsessed New Yorker, struggling with issues of fidelity, no? One thing I can say about Burns, in comparison to the aforementioned, once-great, aging director. Burns' films have significantly improved over the past decade, whereas a not-so-subtle declination in quality has marred the once amazing and fulfilling work of Woody Allen.

Seemingly, Burns' star has faded a little; he is no longer the Sundance wunderkind who wowed Robert Redford so much he produced Burns' follow-up, which was basically a rehashed version of The Brothers McMullen, but with much hotter chicks. And with his star just a little bit dimmer, Burns has been able to produce some of his better, smaller works, such as Looking for Kitty.

In this film, Burns brings in the delightful character actor, David Krumholtz, and SNL alum, Rachel Dratch, to make his foray into a more soulful, and heartfelt film. Here, Krumholtz's Abe Fiannico is looking for his estranged wife, the titular Kitty. Fiannico has employed Private Investigator Jack Stanton (Burns) to help find her, despite all evidence pointing to the fact that she simply does not want to be found