Hotel for Dogs

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.

Usually, I don't like films which have real dogs in them. But, Hotel For Dogs came as a real surprise to me. Of course, the plot is predictable, but the actors & the adorable dogs brought this movie some heart. I don't understand the low rating. This movie was made for kids, not for adults, so you shouldn't have expected anything more than the predictable dialogues & happy ending.

Andi (Emma Roberts) & Bruce (Jake. T. Austin) are two siblings who have lost their parents & are living in foster homes & the adults in that home are very annoying. One day their dog, Friday goes into an abandoned old hotel & it spends the night there. Somehow, the kids want a real family & they start rescuing dogs from all over the place to help the dogs avoid the pound with the help of their friends, Dave, Heather & Mark. They get into all kinds of trouble with the law.

I was babysitting the other day & my little cousin wanted to watch this as soon as he heard it had dogs in them (he's 8 & very cute) & so I had to watch it along with him as no one else wanted to spend time on this with him & I like him (he has two elder sisters & they wouldn't see this, nor babysit him). This is a very fun family film. The acting was good, the dogs were awesome & the contraptions to help the dogs enjoy was cool. Seeing this as he enjoyed really made it good for me. The plot had lot of holes in it; like where did they get the money to feed so many dogs when they couldn't even pay for food for their first dog? And how could they build the hotel for the dogs without the owner's permission & is it really OK to break the law as long as you do it for the cute dogs? This is a kids fantasy after all & I let go of these problems.

Lisa Kudrow (from the awesome show 'Friends') really didn't do much in this. Then again, the kids & dogs are the main attraction. Emma Roberts is a girl I loved in Nancy Drew (I was a huge fan of Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew during my teens, still am I suppose) & here also I liked her. The other kids were also OK. I'm a huge fan of Prison Break & did anyone notice Mark was eerily similar with his dialogue delivery & personality to a character in the TV show? If he is not his son, then its weird.

6/10

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 am shocked to come to IMDb and see this movie with a rating under 5/10. Certainly the film is not art, but it a nice family film, a fun film, a good time film. Kids (and adults) will enjoy Bruce's contraptions, and the film solidly encourages kids to do the right thing and stand up for what they believe in. Best of all, they do not clutter the movie with useless subplots. Any romance between the characters is a minor strand, there are no false arguments to heighten tension. The plot stays focused and the kids (and even adults) will have a good time.

I *HATE* dogs, and I liked this movie. That has to say something.

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.