A Street Cat Named Bob

Based on the bestselling books by James Bowen, this true story about a recovering drug-addict busker and his feline companion sends the "ahh" factor through the roof, courtesy of the real-life puss lighting up the screen as himself. Luke Treadaway, as James, takes in a stray after moving to an assisted housing flat, and the pair form a powerful bond as they criss-cross the streets of London. Throw in a modicum of peril when the pals inadvertently get separated, and a subplot about Bowen and his father (Anthony Head) struggling to reconcile, and you're on to a real winner. On the surface, it may sound like light subject matter, but the man-and-moggy partnership provides a warm backdrop to a solid, responsible and never preachy chronicle of homelessness, addiction and recovery - the script by Tim John and Maria Nation neither condemns nor condones. Treadaway plays the dishevelled Bowen with just the right amount of vulnerability undermining his genuine wish for a better life, but he can't help but be upstaged by his adorable four-legged co-star.