MOVIE
REVIEW: HOTEL FOR DOGS

01/15/09

SYNOPSIS:
“ Hotel for Dogs” stars Emma
Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don
Cheadle in a smart, funny comedy adventure that shows how
far love and imagination can take you. When their new
guardians forbid 16-year old Andi (Roberts) and her younger
brother, Bruce (Austin) to have a pet, Andi has to use her
quick wit to help find a new home for their dog, Friday. The
resourceful kids stumble upon an abandoned hotel and, using
Bruce’s talents as a mechanical genius, transform it into a
magical dog-paradise for Friday – and eventually for all
Friday’s friends. When barking dogs make the neighbors
suspicious, Andi and Bruce use every invention they have to
avoid anyone discovering “who let the dogs in.”
REVIEW:
Remember that movie with Diane Lane and John Cusack, what
was it? Oh yeah, Must Love Dogs. Well, it’s not a
requirement but it does help if you really want to enjoy
this movie. One of Priscilla’s favorite dogs is the French
bulldog. She would already have one if she could afford to
get one. They are not cheap at all. If any of you know of
any French bulldogs out there that are available at a decent
price, please, please, send me an email. Or if you would
like to contribute to the “Let’s Get Priscilla a French
Bulldog Fund”, let me know as well. I’m going on and on
about this and yet I’m not even sure if one of the canine
stars in this movie is a French bulldog. I love dogs but I’m
not a professional classifier. I still can’t tell a French
bulldog from a Boston terrier. They look the same to me.
Georgia, be it French or Boston, is one of the many adorable
dogs used in this fun, light-hearted picture. If Priscilla
would have gone with me to the screening, she would have
been able to tell me what kind of dog Georgia is as well as
what kind of dog Friday is too. I think he looks like a
long-haired Jack Russell, but what do I know. Friday is the
main canine star and he and his buddies steal every scene
they are in. Friday is an ingenious dog that has the talent
of finding and eating food and what a healthy appetite he
has. Each of the other four legged stars has its own talent
as well. We have chewers, fetchers, howlers, and even
lovers. All of them have found the home they needed at this
abandoned hotel thanks to Bruce (Jake T. Austin) and Andi
(Emma Roberts), orphan siblings that have an affinity for
dogs. Oh yeah, there are humans in this movie too. They all
did as good as you would expect for this kind of movie.
Bruce and Andi are trouble makers but they are ingenious
trouble makers. Their hearts lie on the desire to be part of
a loving family and so they created one for themselves and
will defend it at any cost.
This film is geared more toward kids and based on the
feedback I noticed during the screening, they will enjoy it.
From the very beginning, there was audience participation
with the movie as they clapped along with the opening music.
There were kids galore in the audience and they were pumped
and excited to watch this film. There were plenty of aw’s
and oh’s throughout and it concluded with a nice round of
applause. The story is predictable and cliché at times, down
to the mean and nasty dog catchers, so you grown-ups might
enjoy the movie more if accompanied by children, unless
you’re a major fan of dogs. But regardless, the message that
this movie delivers is for everyone. It sheds light on the
fact that so many really good dogs are in need of a loving
family and home. In the movie they get a hotel but in our
world it might not be that simple. Director Thor Freudenthal
did a good job of tugging at our heart strings by showing us
the importance of being part of a loving family, both human
and pet alike.
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
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