Das Hundehotel

I am shocked to come to IMDb and see this movie with a rating under 5/10. Certainly the film is not art, but it a nice family film, a fun film, a good time film. Kids (and adults) will enjoy Bruce's contraptions, and the film solidly encourages kids to do the right thing and stand up for what they believe in. Best of all, they do not clutter the movie with useless subplots. Any romance between the characters is a minor strand, there are no false arguments to heighten tension. The plot stays focused and the kids (and even adults) will have a good time.

I *HATE* dogs, and I liked this movie. That has to say something.

The title summs it up pretty much, the dialouge, the characters are generic and uninteresting so is the story but the dogs are interesting the ending is cheesy, generic and sweet. Is the movie a bad time? No, i am pretty sure most kids would enjoy it and still its a good time

I saw a preview of this film with kids 6, 7 and 12. We are a dog-loving family, so perhaps we were biased to enjoy the film. That said, we were split on our review. The adults and 12 year old were bored; the two youngsters were thrilled! Hence the score of 6.

Overall, this was a harmless movie featuring a few humans and many trained dogs. It was sugary and nice - there was no real threat anywhere in the film of something bad happening (thus it is kid-safe for very young kids). And they've reduced the idea of foster homes down to a concocted McNugget of a concept. My younger kids didn't even follow that theme at all.

What they did follow, and what I found most redeeming, were the numerous cutesy dog tricks and toys. The creators of the film did a nice job inventing clever ways to mechanize the caring for dogs (think the breakfast scene in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). That was fun. And the dogs were cute.

For me the drawbacks were these: Slow start, unfunny 'comic' characters - like the foster parents and dog catchers, and a lame plot.

But ultimately - we had a nice outing, and you will too. And you will emerge from the film MORE likely to go get a dog of your own.

Saw a preview of Hotel For Dogs with my wife and kids (4&7 year old boys) last weekend and I have to say we all thoroughly enjoyed this film. In fact I would have to say it is the best live-action kids film I've seen in years. Sure, as an adult you'll be able to see predictable plot devices coming at you from around every corner, but the movie is so likable, well acted and well directed that you just don't care. There are holes in the story and the whole movie is one big implausibility but it just doesn't matter. Hotel for Dogs will be the first big hit of 2009. It's a great family film that 4-12 year olds are just going to eat up.

A brother and sister live with their umpteenth set of foster parents. They hide their pet - a small dog - because the foster parents don't want to know about it. When the dog runs away they follow it and find their way into an old abandoned building. To their surprise it is not completely abandoned but actually lived in by a number of dogs. Soon after that an idea comes to life.

And from there the story rolls on in a typical Disney style children's film where evil is evil and good is good and anything else is easily forgotten. As as adult I wasn't overly impressed with the film but the kid I took to see it loved it - and that's good. The target audience for the film must be kids in the age range 6 to 12 or so. The things that happen are fun to watch (at least the very most of the time) and although the acting capabilities of the younger players leaves something to be desired it is not bad enough to turn the film into a complete waste of tape.

All in all, it features a good number of laughs, a few tear drops and surely a lot of hard work - and a cast that is clearly liking to play the roles they were cast for.

5 out of 10 dogs barking in the night