Movie Review: Hotel for Dogs

	RATING: PG GENRE: Comedy RELEASE DATE: January 16, 2009 RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes VIOLENCE FACTOR: No violence to speak of BAD WORDS: A mild obscenity or two, hardly noticeable RACY?: Not in the slightest GRANDS

Kids convert an abandoned hotel into a residence for homeless dogs

by Bill Wine

CRITIQUE:

As dog flicks go, if Marley & Me was a case of "Bad dog, good movie," Hotel for Dogs registers as "Good dogs, okay movie."

Hotel for Dogs, based on a 1971 children's book of the same name by Lois Duncan, is a comedic adventure about a group of kids who turn an abandoned hotel — an amazingly and conveniently well-appointed one — into a high-rise residence for homeless dogs.

Emma Roberts (Julia's niece) plays 16-year-old Andi; Jake T. Austin is her 11-year-old brother, Bruce. The siblings, committed to remaining together, are living in their fifth foster home in three years with foster parents Lois and Carl Scudder (played by Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon). The Scudders are so distracted that they fail to notice a Jack Russell terrier that the kids have kept hidden from them (a playful plot point that grandkids will enjoy, and grandparents will dismiss as preposterous).

The kids discover an abandoned downtown hotel that several strays live in, and they and their friends fix it up. With the help of Rube Goldberg-type contraptions that the mechanically-inclined Bruce invents, the kids feed, entertain, care for, and even clean up after the strays that they house in the hotel.
 
The kids have no permission for any of this, so they don’t want their social services rep, Bernie (played by Don Cheadle), to find out.

One shot of a dozen dogs sitting at a long dining room table patiently waiting for their dinner tells you two things: One, we are definitely in the realm of fantasy, and, two, the real stars are the dog trainers (and you can tell there were many!).

Director Thor Freudenthal sometimes allows the film to resemble a canine novelty act, but he also includes a climactic scene in which the film's message is clearly articulated. That will please grandparents. For dog-loving grandchildren, especially the young ones, it's all about dogs, toys, and a lot of noise. What's not to like?

Do you and your grandchildren have a cherished pet? Learn about our fun pet projects you can do together.