Review: "Hotel for Dogs"
Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 11:00PM | By Franck Tabouring 
Seen on: January 17, 2009
The players: Director: Thor Freudenthal, Writers: Todd Farmer, Zane Smith, Cast: Emma Roberts, Don Cheadle, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon
Facts of interest: Emma Roberts also starred in "Nancy Drew."
The plot: A bunch of kids rescue stray dogs and secretly hide them in an abandoned hotel.
Our quick thoughts: Woof! The dogs are back on the big screen. In Thor Freudenthal’s new family adventure “Hotel for Dogs,” 16-year-old Andi (Emma Roberts) and her younger brother Bruce (Jake T. Austin) embark on a risky mission to rescue stray dogs and hide them in an abandoned downtown hotel.
In a nutshell, if you have a dog and love it to death, I’m sure you’ll find this film to be quite the charming experience. Harmless for the most part, “Hotel for Dogs” is one of those flicks that easily succeed in pleasing its target audiences. Most of the kiddos in my screening seemed to have a blast, and that of course, is an excellent sign.
Personally, however, I found the film’s plot to be boring and barely original. Sure, the overly smart lead characters have a great time coming up with the coolest gadgets to keep the dogs busy even when they’re not there, but apart from that, the movie doesn’t have much to offer. In other words, don’t expect too many surprises.
Even though I’m clearly not among the film’s target audience, I admit “Hotel for Dogs” promotes a warm-hearted message even the younger audiences will understand easily enough. Additionally, the dogs will make the kiddos laugh and the character’s actions may even inspire them, and I guess that’s what matters most.
While the human characters are lacking interesting enough personalities and none of the cast members really stand out, I must say I was impressed by the dogs’ performances. I mean, most of these animals even behave better than some kids out there. My praise goes out to all the trainers.
Freaky quote: “Oh yeah, why don't we just wander the streets and rescue every stray we see?" – Emma Roberts
The final word: Dog lovers will certainly enjoy this movie to the fullest extent, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. That’s really all I have is to say about it. Woof!
Article by Franck Tabouring
Reader Comments (2)
This film is way worse than Frank Tabouring gives it credit for. He is being nice. Too nice. It seemed to last forever. I'm not sure of the films target audience, but it's not 4 year olds (I took a 4 year old). In the commercials it is all cute dogs being entertained with creative gadgets. But the film tries to get complex with some lame teen angst between the unattractive pet store employee and the not charming lead female, Andi. Then you have lame scene followed by lame scene with a Lisa Kudrow showing her age and not showing her OK acting ability. Talk about mailing it in. Did they do all of those scenes in one take??? For reals. It was barely watchable. And don't get me started on the bumbling characters of Animal Control and the Police Officers. Why do kids movies have to show people in authority as fools and incompetent? It makes no sense. Just like the movie.
Can’t ask for a better FAMILY movie! This movie was made for kids big and small yea sure some of the ideas in this movie are a little far fetched but what kids movie isn’t.