Hotel For Dogs (Paramount Pictures)
Here Doggie, Doggie, Doggie
Emma Roberts movie career is progressing nicely. She is playing roles close to her age and is not moving into adulthood too quickly. Her Aunt Julia should be proud. Her latest movie, Hotel For Dogs, gives her a chance to be at that in between stage of teenager and adult. She gets to have a boyfriend but the romance isnt played too seriously. This is more a movie for dog lovers than people lovers.
In the movie Roberts plays Andi. She and her brother Bruce (Jake T Austin) have been in and out of foster homes for the past two years following the death of their parents in a car accident. They are currently in the foster care of Lois and Carl Scudder (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon).
The one constant in their life is their pet dog. The Scudders dont know they have the dog because the kids keep it hidden in a variety of ways. Their caseworker Bernie (Don Cheadle) warns them that if they mess up their relationship with this set of foster parents he might not be able to find anyone to take the two of them together in the future.
One day their dog gets seized by the City Dog Catcher. When Andi and Bruce rescue him they also break out a few other dogs. They end up with the group in a deserted hotel. It is the perfect hideout for a large group of animals.
When they are buying dog food for the group they end up with more dogs that have been dropped off at the pet store. They also end up with Dave and Heather (Johnny Simmons and Kyla Pratt), who work at the store, to help them with the animals.
Roberts and company are okay as the human actors but it is the dogs that really steal the show. They are amazing in what they are required to do and what they actually do. Watching them is the fun of the film.
The movie is rated PG for some mild profanity and crude humor.
A lot of what happens in Hotel For Dogs cant be taken seriously, and children have no problem just accepting what is shown at face value. It is the adults who might have trouble swallowing the situations.
The animals are great, the actors are okay, and the plot is so so. Just try to watch it through the eyes of a child and you will be fine.
I scored Hotel For Dogs a room serviced 5 out of 10.
