The movie begins with the announced retirement of a beloved professor. Later we realized that he was so loved that his pupils follow him for the remainder of their lives, he is "pure gold." How quaint. The stronger the pupil/professor attatchment is the more out of place and unfounded it seems because we never witness their growing together. Instead it is simply assumed and the audience is supposed to grow with characters through the professor's witty stories. Granted, these stories are sometimes clever, but far from the hilarity you'd expect from the pupil's laughter. It's always sad when the characters in the movie are the only ones laughing at the jokes. Much like the unfounded relationship between the pupils and professor, is that of the cat and professor. This near half hour of depression over a barely known cat is almost unbearable. I guess the movie attempts to move the audience emotionally and link them with the characters; I failed with me. Personally, I was wishing the professor would just die already and end the boredom.
