Catwoman

***Catwoman*** is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Pitof and starsHalle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt, Lambert Wilson, Frances Conroyand Alex Borstein. The film is loosely based on the DC Comics character of the same name, who is traditionally an anti-heroine and love interest of the superhero Batman.[2]

The plot features a completely new character, Patience Phillips, taking the Catwoman name, and viewing the traditional Catwoman as a historical figure.

The film grossed $82 million on a $100 million production budget.

## Plot

Artist and graphics designer Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) is a meek people pleaser whose only support is her best friend Sally (Alex Borstein). Patience works for a cosmetics company called Hedare Beauty, which is ready to ship a new skin cream called Beau-Line, that is able to reverse the effects of aging. However, as Patience visits the factory where it is being manufactured, she overhears a discussion between the scientist, Dr. Ivan Slavicky (Peter Wingfield), and Laurel Hedare (Sharon Stone), the wife of company owner George Hedare (Lambert Wilson); speaking about the dangerous side effects from continued use of the product. Laurel's guards discover Patience and are ordered to dispose of her. Patience tries to escape using a conduit pipe, but the minions have it sealed and flush Patience out of it, drowning her. Lying washed up on the shore and lifeless, Patience is mysteriously brought back to life by an Egyptian Mau cat, who appeared at her apartment earlier, and from that moment on develops cat-like abilities.

With the help of the Mau's owner, eccentric researcher Ophelia Powers (Frances Conroy), who tells her that Egyptian Mau cats serve as messengers of the goddess Bast, Patience understands that she is becoming a "catwoman" reborn with abilities that are both a blessing and a curse. Wearing a mask to disguise her identity, Patience stalks the night as Catwoman seeking the answers to who killed her and why. Eventually, her search (which involves finding Slavicky murdered and being accused of it) leads her to Laurel. She asks Laurel to keep an eye on her husband, to which Laurel agrees. However, when Patience confronts George (who is at an opera with another woman), he reveals he knows nothing about the side effects. The police arrive and Catwoman escapes. Later on, Laurel murders her husband for his infidelity, and admits to killing Dr. Slavicky as well for his attempts to take the product back to formula. Laurel contacts Catwoman and frames her for the murder and is taken into custody by the police, but not before Laurel reveals the side-effect of the cosmetic product: discontinuing using it would make the skin disintegrate while continued use would make the skin as hard as marble. She also plans to release the Beau-line in the market the following day.

Patience slips out of confinement and confronts Laurel in her office, revealing that Laurel is the one responsible for Patience's death. During the fight, she scratches Laurel's face, and Laurel nearly plummets to her death when she falls out of a window, grabbing onto a pipe for her life. Laurel sees her face in a reflection and is horrified by her skin's rapid disintegration, fails to grab hold of Patience's outstretched arm and falls to her death. Though Patience is cleared of any charges made against her regarding the deaths of Dr. Slavicky and the Hedares, she chooses to continue living outside the law enjoying her new-found freedom as the mysterious Catwoman.

## Cast

* Halle Berry as Patience Phillips / Catwoman
* Benjamin Bratt as Detective Tom Lone
* Sharon Stone as Laurel Hedare
* Lambert Wilson as George Hedare
* Frances Conroy as Ophelia Powers
* Alex Borstein as Sally
* Michael Massee as Armando
* Byron Mann as Wesley
* Kim Smith as Drina
* Peter Wingfield as Dr. Ivan Slavicky
* Berend McKenzie as Lance
* Ona Grauer as Sandy
* Landy Cannon as Randy
* Michael Daingerfield as Forensics Cop
* Benita Ha as Forensics Technician
* James Lloyd Reynolds as Doctor
* Jill Krop as Newscaster
* Dagmar Midcap as Television Reporter
* Gordon Sharplin as Nightclub Patron
* Ryan Robbins as Bartender
* Peter Williams as Detective
* Janet Varney as Party Girl

Missy Peregrym appears uncredited as the Hedare factory computer monitor image (Beau-line graphics model), depicting the bad effects of the beauty product. A photograph of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in *Batman Returns* can be seen among the pictures that Ophelia shows to Patience.