Le Dog Show

"Show Dogs" (PG, 1:32) is an action-adventure comedy which was directed by Raja Gosnell, who has two Smurfs movies, two Scooby-Doo movies, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua", "Big Momma's House" and "Never Been Kissed" on his resume. The film was written by Max Botkin ("What Happened to Monday") and Marc Hyman ("Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted", "How to Train Your Dragon") and produced using a combination of live action and CGI. It has, unfortunately, also been the subject of some controversy. Some people have interpreted one canine character's struggle to learn how to deal with being handled during competition as some secret message teaching children to accept fondling. This minor subplot could also be interpreted as encouraging men not to be afraid of prostate exams. Or maybe it's just a relevant plot point for an alpha dog preparing to be in his first dog show. Either way, the rest of this review will ignore the controversy and talk about the movie, which is more than a bad press magnet.

Max (voiced by Ludacris) is a Rottweiler working as a tough-as-nails NYC police dog. Max is tracking some rare animal smugglers when he runs into Frank (Will Arnett), an FBI agent working on the same case. Max's human supervisor convinces a reluctant Frank to work with Max on their joint venture. The two new partners develop a love-hate relationship as they follow the clues to Las Vegas, where they believe an international dog show there is being used as a front by the animal traffickers. A dog groomer named Mattie (Natasha Lyonne) works with Frank as he poses as a dog handler participating in the competition. Of course, Max is forced to endure the indignities of a primped pooch paraded about during the various challenges in the dog show as he does his own undercover work. Along the way, Max gets help from an unhinged former champion named Dante (Alan Cumming) and a fellow participant named Daisy (Jordin Sparks). RuPaul, Gabriel Iglesias, Shaquille O'Neal and Stanley Tucci also voice CGI dogs, while Anders Holm, Blake Anderson and Kate Micucci voice a trio of pigeons who are fans of Max.

"Show Dogs" is cute, clever, comedic and compassionate. Sure, this movie could be seen as just another man and mutt police pairing, in the vein of "Turner and Hooch" and "K9" (both from 1989), or a hairy rehash of 2000's "Miss Congeniality", but those comparisons really do a disservice to this delightful comedy. The story is simple enough for most kids to follow, but involved enough to hold the interest of most adults. The voice work is great and the performances and plot combine to make for a very enjoyable (mostly) family-friendly film. "A-"

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.

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.

Horrible film. Not worth the time even if it is free.

A Redbox bomb.

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.