"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-"
