Hotel for Dogs (2009)

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.

HOTEL FOR DOGS is About A Couple of Children That Open A Hotel For Dogs After Finding 2 Dogs That Were Already There. But Problems Happen When The Dog Cathers Wander Were All The Stray Dogs Went (The Kids Took Them). The Cathers Are On Loose and Will Do Anything To Get The Strays Back.

HOTEL FOR DOGS is An Absolutly Funny, Dramatic, and Thrilling Family Film. Jake T. Austin (From Disney's WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE) is One Great Young Actor in This Film, and Brings Some Funny Inventons That The Carecter He Plays Builds. Emma Roberts (From Nick's UNFABOLUS) is The Best When it Comes Playing The Sister Who Falls Head-Over-Healls For A Teen Who Works at A Pet Shop.

The Dogs Themselves Are Great! The Stunts By The Dogs Are Great!

HOTEL FOR DOGS is A Must-See For The Family and Recommended For Kids 5 & Older.

I Also Recommend You see

Air Bud, The Adventures of Milo and Otis, and The All Dogs Go to Heaven Series

Overall Rating-5/5

Buy Hotel for Dogs (2009) Now

Well, this movie hasn't totally gone to the dogs. Wasn't it W. C. Fields who said never act up against either a kid or an animal? "Hotel for Dogs" best performances are by the shorter cast members be they two or four footed.

Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) are a pair of orphans living in possibly the world's worst foster home with Carl and Lois Scudder (Kevin Dillon and Lisa Kudrow). Dog food looks better than what Lois serves up for dinner and the music they play as a rock group has gone to the dogs.

Andi and Bruce at first appear to be a pair of cons. They're selling rocks in shrink wrapped cell phone packaging to unsuspecting strangers. Turns out, they're not doing this for themselves, but to keep the family together and that means feeding Friday, the long gut mutt they've been hiding from the foster parents for the past three years.

When Friday ends up nearly kept by the Animal Control Officers, the sibs decide to make him a home in an abandoned hotel. What they don't realize until they get there is that two dogs have already claimed the spot. And well, the more the merrier as they devise a Rube Goldberg type apparatus to keep the animals fed, scooped and entertained while they are gone.

Unfortunately, things go awry. Will the plucky kids and their four legged family be able to keep the home they have carved out for themselves? Go see the film to find out. You'll be surprised how doggone funny it is.

Rebecca Kyle, March 2009

Read Best Reviews of Hotel for Dogs (2009) Here

We bought this to play for the kids at church, and I was skeptical. It's a better movie than the title implies. Lot's of cliches' but reasonably well acted. And we didn't have to worry about content.

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I love this movie not only cause I'm a dog lover, but also it teaches the true meaning of family. I can't wait for my daughter to see this with me

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