Post by BIGFANBOY on Jan 17, 2009 2:56:31 GMT -5
HOTEL FOR DOGS
Review by Gary Dean Murray
It must be hard to make a successful kids live action movie. There are too many different factions that have to be appealed to. You must make it kid friendly but not so 'kiddie' that the adults are turned offed by the ordeal. The movies with the best of both worlds have been from the Walt Disney Company. There has never been a company more successful in turning out film after film that appealed to almost every different audience population. Many have tried and most have failed. The latest attempt at making a family film is Dreamworks with Hotel for Dogs.
The movie starts where many of these film do... with orphans. Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) are two foster kids in their last chance home. Andi is the typical older sister, looking out for her brother. Bruce is a mechanical genius who can build any contraption he sets his mind to. Their caseworker Bernie (Don Cheadle) warns them that they must behave if these two are to be placed with a good family. Their goal is to be adopted together.
The foster adults (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon) seem more put upon than welcoming with their two charges. This duo is much more interested in securing a singing gig than raising kids. The scenes where they are practicing give some slight moments of mirth. They keep the food locked up and it is a no pets policy in the house.
Here is the problem. The youngsters have a dog "Friday" from their days as a complete family. This little scamp is a chow hound, always looking for another meal to mooch. After Friday is captured by the inept dog catchers, the kids realize that they must do something to save their beloved pooch. Once they get the dog back, he escapes into an abandoned hotel still full of antique furniture and fixtures. Living on the floors are two strays. Andi and Bruce decide that this is a perfect place to hide their little dog. After some crafty little gadgets and some help from the local pet store employees, the dilapidated building becomes a fancy hotel for our canine friends. This bubbles up an idea. If all the kids help finding and rescuing strays, they can all live in this Hotel For Dogs.
Young Emma Roberts is a beautiful girl and will probably give her Aunt Julia a run in capturing the mantel of 'America's Sweetheart'. She does a good job playing against all the furry cast members and holds her own against her teen and pre-teen cast. If she wants it, this could be another step in a very long cinema career. But to be honest, she is almost eye candy and the 'girl next door' in a room full of canines. Jake T. Austin fares a bit better here. His character Bruce is actually given something to do in the mix and helps to drive the story. Working well with the dogs, he is more of our heart in the movie putting a caring face to all the strays. And by being alone without parents, he is in a way a stray himself.
But, I cannot believe that Academy-lauded actor Don Cheadle is in this film. He has done so many intense roles and built a solid career of playing strong characters. This is a small, simple role from an actor who has stunned audiences for years. Here, he brings nothing new or exciting to a role that could have been done by just about any working actor. Lisa Kudrow is another one that seems to be slumming in Hotel for Dogs. This comic icon is playing a second banana to kids and dogs. For someone who commanded television audiences and showed such promise in movies just a few years ago, this seems to be a letdown of her talents.
While the story is predictable, some of the actual jokes are a bit too gross. We get all the poop and pee humor that a story could generate. But director Thor Freudenthal handles his four-legged cast better than his two-legged ones. There are some amazing reaction shots the dogs hand out that convey emotions lacking from the humans working on the set.
This is a family/kid's film and it does work on that level. The little ones will love all the different breeds of dogs running around and making mischief. There are enough plot moments for the older ones not to be bored to tears. but it is just not a great motion picture experience.
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