The Dogfather

I was expecting more laughs from this movie. Although I sat down and watched it without ever having heard about it prior to picking it up. I had expected a bit more from it, though.

Not even Chris Parnell could raise this movie up from what it was. Most of the cast was decent enough, actually, including Chris Parnell. However, I didn't care for Dax Ravina (playing Vinny) and Tony Nappo (playing Joey), they overacted their stereotypical characters in a very bad way, bordering on where it was physically painful to watch. I am sure they are both good actors in their own rights, but their characters in this movie was too much!

The story would be really nice for a 6 to 10 year old to watch, and perhaps as a family unit, but don't sit down and watch this movie without children, it is just not that funny. I watched it with my 1 year old, but of course he is too young to understand what's going on, but he seemed to like watching the dog on the screen.

The story told in "The Dogfather" is pretty straight forward, and very, very simple. Don Tanzio loses his family heirloom ring when the dog Sonny eats a meatball from his hand. The dog runs away and then becomes adopted by a new family. And of course, Don Tanzio's goons are out looking for the dog and the ring, and this is where the awkward situations arise for everyone.

For a family entertainment movie, "The Dogfather" is not a really good choice, because there are lots of other really nice and funny movies available on the market. The movie had potential, but it didn't fully deliver.

Watched this tonight as our Saturday family movie on PPV, we made a great choice! This is how a family film should be, Hollywood take note. Most if your so called "family films" are not fit for family consumption. The Dogfather gets it right! This film was both funny and presented a number of positive family messages that my wife and I appreciated. Chris Parnell is very good as the dad. And the guy who plays the mafia boss is perfect! He looks and sounds like Marlon Brando from The Godfather, geez what a find he was! The bulldog is quite hilarious in this movie, a very funny breed indeed. We are dog lovers at our house so we appreciated that. The plot and story line for this movie is excellent and the cinematography is gorgeous, I loved all the bright vibrant colors. My kids laughed at many of the parts and where thoroughly entertained for the entire duration of the movie. I found some of the jokes aimed at adults to be quite funny as well. My wife wants to get this movie on DVD so we can have the kids watch it in the car. Parents, if you want a "safe" movie that will keep the kids occupied for 90 minutes, this is the one!

Do you like to laugh and laugh until your side hurts? I do, and that why I like the film The Dogfather. The story is about a bulldog named Sonny that is a rich man's pet. The rich man is a gangster Boss. The men in the gang have to call him "Godfather" and they have to call Sonny "Dogfather." When the Godfather feeds Sonny a meatball from his hand, Sonny accidentally eats the ruby ring off the Godfather's finger along with the meatball. When the Godfather sees the ring is gone, he thinks Sonny has turned against him. Sonny gets scared and runs. The Godfather tells two of his men, "Get Sonny and my ring back dead or alive." And the chase for Sonny is on! Sonny gets hauled off to the pound, where a boy with a heart problem wants to adopt him. The pound has a lot of cute fluffy little dogs, but the boy wants the big drooling bulldog. The boy really loves Sonny and his mother loves him too, but the boy's father can't seem to get along with him.

My favorite character in Dogfather is the bulldog Sonny. He's a great comedian. He plays goofy jokes on people. The funniest part is when Sonny leaves a surprise in his new owner's shoe. When the father takes Sonny for a walk, Sonny pulls so hard, it's actually the dog walking the man.

Things get super silly when the father tries playing his own tricks. He builds a doghouse for Sonny that looks like a prison. But Sonny ends up sleeping in the father's bed and guess where the father sleeps? The Italian gangsters chasing Sonny talk with Italian accents and they're not too smart but really funny, even though they're bad guys. They walk around so cool except they are afraid of a tiny puppy. It's silly. Who would be afraid of a puppy? The Dogfather soundtrack helps make a happy and exciting mood. I found myself smiling and laughing during the whole movie. It's just plain ridiculous and I love a movie that lets me feel like that.

I recommend this film for kids of all ages. I think parents and kids would enjoy watching it together, as long as the grownups don't mind a few poop jokes. Will the two Italian gangsters catch Sonny? Where is the Godfather's ring? Will the father let the little boy keep Sonny the slobbery bulldog as his pet? If you're ready for some good laughs and a brilliant story, get this movie on DVD today! (streets 1/18/11) Credit: Makai Weber Colvin, Age 9, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic