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(More customer reviews)So my brother and sister and their spouses are taking an "emergency mental health day" over to the casino boats and I'm pulling Uncle duty for a couple hours. We decide to go to the movies and I try to convince them to go see My Bloody Valentine 3D.
"We don't wanna see it." they said, "It scares us."
"Why, I asked," because you're all a bunch of babies?"
"We're not babies! We're this many", they said, holding up 3 fingers.
"Exactly. You're not babies. You're post-toddlers."
"Uncle Hammoooooock! We wanna see Hotel for Dogs".
Well I thought, maybe it would be for the best to see Hotel for Dogs. If I take them to see it then maybe years from now when I'm a toothless old loon confined to a government nursing home the kids will remember this movie fondly and come around to visit me and shoo the flies off my face and maybe keep the attendents from stealing my teeth and underpants.
Besides, i could teach them how to mix Milk Duds with popcorn and the flask of "Uncle Medicine" I carry would smooth over any bumps, especially if I mixed it with a nice fizzy Tab. Okay, kids, Hotel for Dogs it is!
Well sir, I was flabbergasted. This movie was much better than it looked in trailers and commercials. In the trailers, it looked like your average , dopey, mediocre kid movie. But it's better than that. The fine folks who made this film seemed to have put some actual thought and effort into entertaining our kids.
Basically, you got these two kids, bother and sister, who have been in and out of various foster homes since their parents died. They are a handful, a couple of smart little con-artists. But they are motivated by the desire to stay together and remain as much of a family as possible, and this desire extends to their dog, Friday, whom they keep hidden from a string of foster parents who won't take kids with dogs. Most of their schemes involve ways to feed or shelter Friday, but when that becomes too daunting a task they decide to bunk him in an abandoned hotel. One thing leads to another and eventually they are taking care of not only Friday, but a whole pack of dogs. The stray children have created a family for themselves with other strays. Of course there is a serious threat to their happiness, which(do I need to say spoiler alert) is alleviated in the end and eveyone lives happily ever after. That covers the plot.
There's a lot to like about this film. The acting is good. Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon are especially funny as Lois and Carl Scudder, the stars of the Carl Scudder Experience, a low-rent rock lounge act that couldn't cut the mustard playing for a back-alley craps game much less at a venue in Vegas. They're more petty and selfish than evil, although Kudrow looks kind of like a white trash Cruella DeVil. Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin do a good job as the kids. They're smart but not that wise-beyond -their -years smart you see in some movies. They look and act like actual kids.
I should also mention the dogs. I'm generally not a fan of animals that "act" unless they're terrorizing the human population of a small town or island somewhere, but these dogs are often funny, even by adult standards. I think the trick is that the dog scenes are not overdone. They don't wear out their welcome for the grown-up crowd. Kids will love it. The mutts have their own little characteristics and traits but the crowd favorite was Cooper, a big english bull dog who eats anything and everything, from license plates to ladies shoes.
The movie was written by Jeff Lowell,Robert Schooley ,& Mark McCorkle. Schooley and McCorkle created the Kim Possible series and helped write Sky High. They are developing a reputation for making quality family pictures that are fun, smart and imaginitive.
The plot is simple but it's also well done. It's silly in ways that kids will enjoy but it's never insulting, pandering or overly sentimental. And really, does a kid's movie need an intricate, detailed plot. Sure any adult who's lives in a country with free electricity is going to know how this thing turns out, but this movie really wasn't written for adults. It has humor in it that will keep an adults attention, but it's meant for th kids. A big part of the fun of seieng a movie like this with the kids is watching them watch the movie. Most of this stuff is new to them. They don't know for sure if the Hotel is doomed when the dog catchers find out about it. They don't know if the brother and sister are going to remain a family. And they are completely surprised and tickled when the dogs perform cute and funny little stunts that dogs have performed for years. You can get a kick out of watching the suspense, surprise and joy play across their faces as the movie progresses. It's one of those nice little films you can share with your family.
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Hotel for Dogs (Widescreen Edition) (2009)Hotel For Dogs is a funny, heartwarming and inspiring animal adventure that shows how far love and imagination can take you. When 16-year old, Andi (Roberts), and her younger brother Bruce (Austin) find themselves in a foster home with a strict “no pets" policy, they must use their quick wit to find a new home for their dog, Friday. When they stumble into an abandoned hotel, they realize they can transform it into the perfect place for Friday- as well as all the strays in the city. What began as a crusade to save one dog becomes a high stakes adventure as everyone around them starts to wonder- who let the dogs in?
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