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Lunch » Tags » Movies » Reviews » Hotel for Dogs (2009) » User review

Hotel for Dogs (Widescreen Edition) (2009)

Comedy and Kids & Family movie directed by Thor Freudenthal

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The Four Seasons of kid/dog movies.

  • Feb 3, 2009
  • by
Rating:
+4
   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 convinve 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 shoud also mention the dogs. I'm generally not a fan of animals that "act" unless their 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.
Hotel for Dogs

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February 04, 2009
I loved your hilarious review opening! Soooo... Did you ever get to see My Bloody Valentine 3D?
 
February 03, 2009
Great to see you here Jerry--er, Ham. You sold ME when you mentioned SKY HIGH. Anybody who writes a flick that gives work to Bruce Campbell is finest kind by me. Going to the movies with my daughter's twinds is an experience, so I know what you mean. JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH was the first 3D experience for all of us--I had amblyopia the last time they were in vogue. They got such a kick out of it. And Benji is one of those who keep a running commentary going all through the movie--he's really into the whole thing. He's going to be my fanboy.
 
February 03, 2009
Is it sad that you sold me when you mentioned it was written by the people who created Kim Possible?? I am a proud 23 year old Disney Channel fanatic! This movie sounds great... I love dog stories. =)
 
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More Hotel for Dogs (2009) reviews
review by . May 03, 2009
I took my son (4.5 years old), my daughter (10) and two other kids (11 and 8) to this movie over Spring Break. I didn't know much about it, but we all loved it.    It's a good caper movie, featuring a teen girl and her brother's solution to keeping their dog in spite of living in a foster home.    One thing I loved about it was the lack of crude humor (except a few dog bodily function jokes), and also the lack of romance. There was a little bit of romantic …
review by . April 30, 2009
posted in Movie Hype
If you are a dog person, this film will be a joy. If you are a cat person, well best look elsewhere. Cute kids, cute dogs, mean adults (save Don Cheadle), a run down hotel - recepie for a fun movie.    Bruce and Andi are orphan brother and sister. Bernie loves these two kids and tries to place them in a foster home together. Their latest home is not exactly nurturing, so the two turn toward the street and stray dogs. The stray they have had for a number of years, runs away from …
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Mike Noga ()
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Member Since: Feb 2, 2009
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Wiki

Everyone deserves a loving family, but foster kids Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have been placed with a flaky couple who care more for their aspiring rock careers than their foster children. Even though Andi and Bruce's mischievous tendencies repeatedly get them into trouble, the siblings are essentially good kids who care deeply for one another and their secretly adopted dog Friday. After a close call with the local pound, the kids end up searching for Friday in an abandoned old hotel where they find several stray dogs seeking shelter. The kids' compassion for the homeless dogs compels them to begin caring for the strays and they soon join forces with three other local kids to take in strays from across the city. Bruce is a clever inventor whose innovative gadgets ensure top-notch care and constant entertainment for all the dogs (as well as a multitude of laughs from the audience). Unfortunately, Bruce's and Andi's devotion to the dogs eventually causes them to pass up what may be their last chance for a better foster home. When the police storm the hotel and take all the dogs to the pound, the kids make a daring attempt to rescue the dogs that will likely land them in separate group homes. Can social worker Bernie (Don Cheadle) somehow convince the authorities, and perhaps a loving family, that the children were just doing what was right?Hotel for Dogsis a funny family film based on Lois Duncan's book of the same name and is appropriate...
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Details

Director: Thor Freudenthal
Genre: Comedy, Family
DVD Release Date: April 28, 2009
Runtime: 100 minutes
Studio: Paramount
First to Review
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