Hotel for Dogs

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

Hotel for Dogs is strictly a fairy tale... Fun for the wee ones and those who need an escape. The story plods along like a ship in a storm, bouncing here and there with little regard for rationale or plausibility. Don Cheadle does a fine job playing the only reasonable character in the mix, with Emma Roberts and Jake Austin cute (no, too cute) as our main protagonists. Sad to see Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon, and a host of others as contrived stereotypes with less personality than the dogs, who really are the stars of this thing. First time director Thor Freudenthal plays it safe with the story; You can't go wrong with so many talented canines in the mix! My 5 and 7 year old children loved it, while my 11 year old niece gave it "2.5 stars"...Same here.

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.

So I'm finna be real -

Hotel for Dogs kinda not bad.

Like it's clearly not good. The script is awful. The acting isn't that good. The music both generic and out of place.

BUT the director genuinely makes an effort to be creative here and I'm shocked by it. For a kid's movie, Thor Freudenthal does way more than he had to. Part of that is probably because of the source material, I'm sure all of the wacky dog contraptions come straight out of the kid's book, but part of it has to do with the surprisingly interesting shots and editing.

Now I'm not saying this movie is a masterpiece - again, it's got really bad writing. I'm just saying, as a kid's movie, it's more entertaining than I thought it would be.

Plus doggos pretty cute ngl.