“Good Boy!” (MGM)
“Good Boy!” is a “Dr. Doolittle” type movie in which a young boy, played by Liam Aiken, can talk to the animals. Okay he can only talk to dogs, but that is a good start. Their conversations and activities provide enough entertainment to make the movie a fun one for the entire family.
Owen (Aiken) works as a dogwalker in his neighborhood. His parents (Kevin Nealon and Molly Shannon) have told him that if he does this for three months then he can get a dog of his own. One day while walking the dogs he hears a noise like a sonic boom, and later comes upon a small dog that is strange to the neighborhood. This dog is picked up by the dogcatcher and taken to the pound.
Owen and his family go to the pound to select his dog. He of course picks the new dog and names him Hubble. After he takes him home, Hubble takes off for the woods with Owen in pursuit. There he discovers Hubble working with some equipment which inadvertently causes Owen to be able to talk to dogs.
Hubble (voiced by Matthew Broderick) explains he is from the Dog Star Sirius. He has come to earth to check up on the dogs living here. He says there is a rumor that the earth dogs have become pets and that is a no-no. Dogs were sent here thousands of years ago to colonize and dominate our planet.
The rest of the film deals with Hubble getting the neighborhood dogs ready to welcome the Great Dane (voiced by Vanessa Redgrave) who is the Queen of Sirius. They have to prove to her they are more than pets or she will take the entire dog population back to Sirius.
The movie is one dog joke after another and they are funny. The animals used are well trained to make you see their personalities and their abilities. Children will be convinced these dogs can talk, laugh, cry and do everything else humans can.
The film is rated PG for mildly crude humor.
Aiken and the other human actors are adequate for their roles, but it is the dogs that steal the show. As voiced by Broderick, Delta Burke, Donald Faison, Carl Reiner and Brittany Murphy these dogs are the best actors on the screen.
So take the kids to see this animal treat. You can be sure they will find it a howling success.
I scored “Good Boy!” a doggoned good 5 out of 10.
