Review: Hotel for Dogs is heartwarming and inspirational
January 16th, 2009 at 7:30 am by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
”Hotel for Dogs” is heartwarming and inspirational, a fun family movie.
A pair of adopted kids that will do anything and give up anything to help adopt stray dogs in danger of being put down.
“Hotel for Dogs” is a cute and creative movie full of cute, well trained dogs and laughs for both kids and adults.
Its a movie that seems to have thought of just about everything dogs love.
Orphaned sister Andi (Emma Roberts) and brother Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have a history of not fitting in with their adopted parents and the latest parents played by Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon are no different.
Despite the challenges of a strict foster mom and wanna-be rocker parents, Andi is doing everything she can to keep her and her brother together after losing their parents.
Their pal is a rescued stray dog “Friday” (bottom center on the poster) that is smart and resourceful.
Eventually the trio’s tendency to get into trouble leads them to an old abandonded hotel… and the story really takes off.
All of the stray dogs have unique personalities… and get names… and have memorable scene throughout.
The brother, Bruce, is the brains of the operation, coming up with all kinds of great ideas to make taking care of the dogs automated… inlcuding their feeding and bathroom needs.
Sure, the movie is predictable, but the moviemakers did a good job setting up the good guys: the kids, their friends and the stray dogs… against the bad guys: animal control officers, led by a face familiar to “Office Space” fans – Ajay Naidu – who was Samir Nagheenanajar in that famous and highly recommended movie by yours truly.
Also in a strong supporting role is Don Cheadle as the social services manager, lending credibility and solid acting to a role that could have been weak without it.
THE BOTTOM LINE: As I’ve done before, I consider what type of movie this is and its target audience and that this isn’t going to be nominated for any major awards, but its a very good and fun movie, so I’m giving it 7.0 out of 10.
“Hotel for Dogs”
(2009) (rated: PG for brief mild thematic elements, language and some crude humor.) (1 hr, 40 min)
Starring: Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Don Cheadle, Johnny Simmons, Kyla Pratt, Troy Gentile, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon, Ajay Naidu, Eric Edelstein
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Genre: Family/Comedy
The Plot: Two kids secretly take in nine stray dogs at a vacant house.
So what did you think? Please post a comment!
“Hotel For Dogs” poster courtesy DreamWorks
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Tags: Hotel for Dogs, Laff at the Movies, movie, movies, review
Aaron Lafferty covers the film industry. Favorite movies include Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Matrix, Clear and Present Danger, Tombstone, Rounders, Enemy of the State, Rear W...
[...] at Theaters (Friday): “Defiance” (wide release), “Hotel for Dogs”, “Last Chance Harvey” (wide release), “My Bloody Valentine 3-D”, [...]
Nice review; I particularly appreciate the last paragraph. I think the world can always use more family-friendly movies.
I have a page based on Hotel for Dogs at http://www.squidoo.com/hotelfordogs and I have linked to your review and quoted you. I hope you approve.
Thanks,
Brenda
Two young teens are desperate to keep a pet. Their for they have to face real problems. Because of the limited space they have parents don’t allow them to keep him. So they run in to streets at night to find a place for this poor guy. Hotel for Dogs is full of action and adventure. Because after they found this hotel left years ago not only the hotel they experience they are not alone. Many street dogs kept it as home. Sweet but adventures story I saw from http://80millionmoviesfree.com If you still to see better hang on
looks good this movie.
I loved it. It was very funny
[...] (7.5 / 10) “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (7.0 / 10) “Bedtime Stories” (7.0 / 10) “Hotel for Dogs” (7.0 / 10) “Twilight” (7.0 / 10) “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (6.5 / [...]
This is a decent kids movie with a good story and a creative angle. I’m usually not too crazy about any film about dogs as I loath them, but this was mildly enjoyable.
I Hyped Hotel For Dogs on Everhype and gave it 87% which I think is fairly accurate.
http://www.everhype.com/hyper/thebitch?X=M949
I wouldn’t mind getting some opinions on it . If you get on there, rate me a 5 & request friendship.
[...] “Hotel for Dogs” (7.0 / 10 ) [...]
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.
[...] “Hotel for Dogs” – $5.82 million (4th week, was #4 last week, lost 33% from last [...]
[...] (7.5 / 10) “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (7.0 / 10) “Bedtime Stories” (7.0 / 10) “Hotel for Dogs” (7.0 / 10) “Twilight” (7.0 / 10) “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (6.5 / [...]
[...] “Hotel for Dogs” – $4.23 million (5th week, was #10 last week, lost 26% from last [...]
[...] (7.5 / 10) “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (7.0 / 10) “Bedtime Stories” (7.0 / 10) “Hotel for Dogs” (7.0 / 10) “Twilight” (7.0 / 10) “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (6.5 / [...]
,..] blogs.woodtv.com is one another interesting source of information on this subject,..]