One of the fondest memories of my mid-childhood was laughing out loud to Garfield comic strips, and watching his cartoon on Nickelodeon. Now, the famous feline will be terrorizing the mailman and kicking Odie off the table for a new generation as a CGI animation (à la Scooby Doo) in a major feature film, which will star Breckin Meyer (Road Trip, Rat Race), as the utterly clueless Jon Arbuckle, Garfield's owner/pet human. Jennifer Love-Hewitt (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Can't Hardly Wait) will play Liz.

Past flops aside, Meyer and Hewitt are two genuinely likable actors - which may prove to be their downfall. Meyer is an affable guy, but it remains to be seen whether he can summon up the extreme dorkiness required to bring Jon Arbuckle to life. Hewitt has snob potential (as evidenced in the utterly horrible Heartbreakers), but I'm not sure she can pull off the perpetual uninterestedness of Arbuckle's crush, Liz. It's nice to see her trying on a kinder, gentler role for size, though.

Most disappointing is that the film will not feature the voice of Lorenzo Music (he passed away in 2001), the man whose witty monotone brought the sarcastic, lasagna-loving furball to life, to the delight of children - and adults with dominant inner children - everywhere in the 90's. Here's hoping Kevin Spacey gets to fill his shoes.