Um Cão do Outro Mundo

This movie is a little better than OK. It's wholesome entertainment that makes the not-terribly-original point that people and dogs have a special bond. And maybe it says a little about the alienation some children feel when growing up in a two-career suburban family.

The boy at the center of the film, Owen, is pleasant without stealing the show from the talking dogs. The girl who befriends him is equally pleasant and also not a show-stealer. The two boys who torment our hero and the dogs are sort of standard issue neighborhood bullies. Owen's dad is a stereotypical clueless father.

Owen's mom, however, is an interesting character. I think she's being played as an essentially decent woman who is too caught up in her real estate wheelings and dealings to notice that her son is lonely and a little depressed. However, to me she comes off as really creepy: a rootless, valueless suburban capital gains huckster who would sell the family home (and her son's happiness) in an instant it there was a buck to be made in it.

So why is this movie a little better than average? Well, the dogs are fun. The voice-over work is nicely-cast (old trooper Carl Reiner is especially good), the dogs get some funny lines, and some good computer work makes the dogs look pretty convincing at mouthing their lines.

I decided to write this because I'm annoyed with the review this movie got in the L.A. Times. It's their right to pan any movie, of course, but it bugs me when a reviewer dismissively puts down a movie like this because it's no Citizen Kane, or even Citizen Canine. Well, gee, it's a talking dog movie. It's not supposed to be deep.

I noticed this film got a low rating, maybe these people were not dog lovers. I thought the plot, if it was a plot, about the the "alien" dog was a little thin but the dogs were wonderful, the boy was great. Sometimes it's just good to go to the movies the enjoy a sweet little no-nonsense film that's just there for pure entertainment. I was entertained.

Something that totally drives me up the wall is when adults go into movies like this expecting "Gone With the Wind". It's a KIDS movie...the plot will be light, the acting maybe not so hot, and the jokes a bit lame at times. That is expected. You have to take each movie for what it is trying to achieve. This movie is trying to be a fun two hours without taking itself too seriously. And it does that very well. I am an educated movie-goer and I enjoyed this film very much. The actors chosen to provide the voices for the dogs were well selected and I am hoping to see more out of Liam Aiken in the next few years.

Cute dogs, cute laughs, cute movie.

Good Boy

This is a movie for dog lovers. If you like dogs, than you most likely will like this movie. The dogs were great. They looked good. There seemed to be little to no CGI interference with the dogs. The human actors left a lot to be desired, but the movie really wasn't about them anyway. Dogs are from space. They were supposed to colonize Earth, but have instead become pets. The dogs from the home star get mad and want to take away the Earth dogs. That's the basic plot behind the movie. Good for kids and adults who like dogs. Dogs are cool animals and need more movies. Sure the movie was silly, but at least it had dogs in it.

I have seen this movie today. Whatever critics say, it's not a bad movie overall. I think Good Boy is a must see movie for dog lovers, very good movie for kids and above average funny and enjoyable movie for adults.

Plot looks not great but have some of originality. It's not simply a dogs movie, it's a cute heart-warming movie about friendship and loyalty not only between dogs and human, but between people too. Acting are not bad, young Liam Aiken have reasonably good performance. Typical PG movie - without any violence and profanity with some crude humor. So , it's a good movie for whole family. Clearly, not great, but worth to see or at least to rent.

6,8 out of 10, but if I would be a few years younger, I could rate it higher.