THE SPECTRUM of children's films goes from ones that even the most loving of parents can't bear to watch for more than five minutes through to 'family' films that are as much for adults in the audience as children.

The Cat in the Hat falls in the middle of this range.

Adults who find themselves watching the film won't want to tear their eyes out but they won't be recommending it to all their friends either.

As far as Dr Seuss adaptations go, this is a poor cousin to The Grinch. Perhaps it's because The Grinch is set at Christmas, which is a time for fantasy anyway, but in this film the fantastical elements do more to distract the viewer from than enhance the story.

That said, although the over the top brightly-coloured sets may be a little jarring for adults, children will probably love them.

A great deal of effort has been made to capture the spirit of Dr Seuss and turn his imaginative drawings into a three-dimensional set. If your children do fall in love with this film and make you sit through it again and again, at least you can distract yourself by studying the enormous detail that has gone into the film.

Another surprising downside to The Cat in the Hat is its star. Whereas Jim Carrey can be incredibly irritating, he

managed to suppress some of his more annoying characteristics for The Grinch, whereas Mike Myers plays The Cat as if he were a character in Austin Powers.

Rather than being a Dr Seuss film, this feels a bit too much like another vehicle for Mike Myers to make a few in-jokes.

That said, he does provide a few, sometimes slightly risqu, jokes which will amuse adults and older children.

There's quite a nice moral lesson to the film which parents will appreciate, without it tipping over into being sickly.

The film benefits from being very busy, in terms of its script, plot and look, from The Cat's weird and wonderful gadgets to the stylised clothes, furniture

and accessories that crowd the screen.

Not a classic, but not a complete dud either.

Rating: 5/10.