Show Dogs

If you want a deep thought provoking movie...this ain't it. If you want side-splitting, laugh-a-minute comedy... this ain't it. If you want a cute light-hearted movie to spend an hour and a half on and leave the theater feeling a little better than you went in...go for it.

Think "Miss Congeniality" meets "Homeward Bound" and you won't be disappointed.

Reading the critics' reviews we weren't sure what to expect but we all laughed a lot and had a great time. Kids loved it and were quoting it all the way home. I highly recommend this old fashioned fun kids flick. You won't be disappointed!

Saw this with my kids and I have to admit I actually quite enjoyed it. In the marketing this looked like simply another dumb kids movie but I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligent humour which left me chuckling a few times. There were a few jokes aimed at the adults too and I appreciate that the filmmakers had more than just the kids in mind. Glad I saw it and it's an 8/10 from me.

Back in 2002, I watched Raja Gosnell's film, "Scooby-Doo".... and I just loved it! At this point, I've seen all the movies he's directed. I like family films, especially ones with dogs. Generally, the consensus about his movies hasn't been very favorable. I have nothing to complain about, though. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the ticket for this movie. I knew it wouldn't be the funniest movie I'd see this year. I knew there'd be talking dogs, and fart jokes, and kiddie humor. But you know what? I enjoy these kind of movies. Nobody assumes they'll be award winning, or something to make you think. Sometimes you just want to watch something funny, and for me, this did the trick. I liked it for what it was. (It also helps that I love dogs, and I'm sure Mr. Gosnell does, too!) Will Arnett does his usual schtick, Stanley Tucci is hilarious, and I was surprised to see Natasha Lyonne (I haven't seen her on the big screen in years)! I enjoyed this movie, and I think other people (especially dog lovers) would, too.

Max, an NYPDog, must go undercover in a Dog Show to bring a gang of animal smugglers to justice. He gets partnered with an incompetent FBI agent as his handler.

Yep - it's another live action, talking dogs movie where the animals (and most of the women) are a lot smarter than the men. There are enough laughs in it to keep both the children and the parents amused. It does make fun of itself too. Most of the other user reviews are highly polarised between 1s and 10s but I think the truth is in between.

There were news articles around at launch time that two scenes were going to be cut because they might, 'normalise groping.' When I watched the movie in the UK well after launch those scenes seemed to be still in it. In a dog show a vet will check all the animal's assets from teeth to tail and Max has to stay calm while the medic confirms that he's still got his nuts. The movie, 'Best in Show,' has the same gag and I don't think children will necessarily understand why it's funny. So; something else for you parents to explain, but hey: you're used to that.

I liked: the animation, the cute pooches, the tiger and the out-takes at the end. I didn't like: The pigeons plus there are parts of the movie that have some extremely tight editing, the dialogue is too fast and any joke is thrown away.

If you're a dog person add 1 point. If you're a cat person subtract 2 points.