Old Dogs
posted November 25, 2009 7:20 AM
Wild Hogs … with Children
Trying to recapture the freewheeling box office success of Wild Hogs, John Travolta has reteamed with director Walt Becker and they have enlisted the comic antics of Robin Williams to turn this Disney family comedy about a couple of friends and business partners who temporarily inherit 7 year old twins into an often riotously funny slapstick farce that ought to appeal to moviegoers of all ages. This Thanksgiving holiday entry should have plenty to be thankful for indeed, once box office returns are in.
Williams and Travolta play longtime friends Dan and Charlie, carefree bachelors and business partners who are on the verge of closing the biggest deal of their careers with a Japanese conglomerate. Complicating matters though is Williams ex (Kelly Preston) who turns up unexpectedly after seven years and tells him he is actually the father of her 7 year old twins (Ella Bleu Travolta and Connor Rayburn). Due to major personal problems Preston asks Williams to take the kids off her hands for a few weeks and suddenly he and Travolta find themselves preoccupied with an unexpected leap into joint fatherhood just as business concerns pile up. What follows is pure slapstick presented at a breezy pace and offering Williams and Travolta a chance to let their comic chops run wild. Among the highlights are a break-in at the zoo with a business pal (Seth Green) wherein a search for the kids makes them cross paths with a lovelorn gorilla and some not-so-sweet penguins. There’s also a big comic set piece at a scout camp outing where the men compete in some rough one-upmanship with the other fathers on the site.
Predictably the film gets sentimental when Williams realizes he likes this father thing and agonizes over giving up the kids when his business deal forces him to move to Japan for six months. Like most Disney comedies of this ilk, the film effortlessly mixes over-the-top comedy with heartwarming moments that Williams in particular seems to have trademarked. Robin’s in great form and has terrific chemistry with Travolta as they manage to recall a modern-day Abbott And Costello. Travolta seems to be having a ball not taking anything seriously and playing off Williams to maximum comic effect. In fact it’s a Travolta family affair, as daughter Ella Bleu makes a sweet movie debut as one of the kids and wife Kelly turns up for support as well, although her scenes are mainly with Williams. Stealing every scene he’s in, though, is Green who could probably turn mugging into a national pastime. His exaggerated reactions during a disastrous golf game and especially in his romantic entanglement with the aforementioned gorilla are guaranteed laugh-getters. There’s also nice, if brief, support from Matt Dillon, Justin Long, Rita Wilson and the late Bernie Mac, who all seem to be doing the gig for the fun of it.
Old Dogs may not reach the box office heights of Wild Hogs but its fun family friendly attitude should guarantee a healthy holiday haul.
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios
Cast: John Travolta, Robin Williams, Seth Green, Matt Dillon, Justin Long, Kelly Preston, Lori Loughlin, Connor Rayburn, Rita Wilson and Bernie Mac
Director: Walt Becker
Screenwriters: David Diamond and David Weissman
Producers: Andrew Panay, Robert L. Levy and Peter Abrams
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG for some mild rude humor.
Running time: 88 min.
Release date: November 25, 2009
23 Comments
Leave a comment
Josh Dingus said:
Really, Pete? EVERY other critic has been calling this the worst piece of crap in ages.
November 25, 2009 2:45 PM
joe said:
You are getting paid to give this movie a positive review. Period.
November 25, 2009 3:58 PM
Booby said:
You got to be kidding. The only holiday haul this film will do is the short trip it takes to drop it in the trash.
November 25, 2009 4:31 PM
i say shut the fuck up. . . said:
to all you cynical, groomed, cast from the same mold movie cock sucking critics who dont understand the concept of "let's just make a stupid, ridiculous, unintellectual comedy for absolutely no reason at all". It's a goddamn Disney movie made to make kids laugh. You ****ing eccentric, Barnes and Noble frequenting, earth tone wearing, high brow, latte drinking ****tards with no parental skills whatsoever, because you dont have kids, dont know **** about childish, senseless ****ing humor - go **** off. At least this critic here understands that comedy is subjective and he has enough sense to know that there are various levels of comedy not just what you all deem comedy.
November 25, 2009 4:51 PM
Wow said:
^Did someone forgot to take their Ritalin today?
November 25, 2009 5:45 PM
Robin Williams and John Travolta said:
sorry.
November 25, 2009 6:14 PM
Erik B said:
I laughed out loud at the trailer. Something I very rarely do for comedies since Caddyshack and early Woody Allen movies.
November 25, 2009 7:28 PM
Pete H said:
Disney only slipped me a little money to write a review as unnecessarily glowing as this. Feel free to check out Rotten Tomatoes to see how I and pretty much the rest of the world truly feel about this "film".
November 25, 2009 8:02 PM
midking said:
A movie about knocking up a woman during an 8 hour vegas marriage was made with kids in mind?
I agree, they did "just make a stupid, ridiculous, unintellectual comedy for absolutely no reason at all," which includes entertaining or even respecting the people who pay money to see it.
Sure, comedy is subjective...but when 92% of all critics (according to Rotten Tomatoes), from major newspapers across America to small websites, say this is a sad collection of the fart jokes and groin hits we've all seen a thousand times they're ALL somehow elitist? Not championing some thoughtless drivel so vile that even the people in it are clearly mortified, that's being too high brow?
I care too much to let my 10 year old daughter grow up thinking she should conspicuously and unquestioningly embrace lukewarm uninspired garbage so some insipid asswipe doesn't confuse her with *GASP* an intellectual. I'd chalk that up to at least some crude form of parenting skills.
November 25, 2009 9:04 PM
Jason said:
clearing you are cashing a check after this review.
November 25, 2009 11:17 PM
jim said:
you're a joke pete!
November 26, 2009 5:09 AM
Colette said:
I haven't seen it, and since I viewed the excreta known as "Wild Hogs", I will never see it.
Lovelorn Gorilla? Jesus, that says it in a nutshell. That's all anyone needs to hear to make a decision not to see it.
November 26, 2009 6:28 AM
Mick said:
Pete, I find you at fault for why REAL family movies with heartfelt sprit and genuine wit such as Up, Enchanted, Freaky Friday and Ratatouille are becoming extinct. The encouragement of this idiotic, headache-inducing, steaming pile is why each generation of youth is getting legitimately stupider each year.
There's not a single self-respecting lover of film that takes your opinion seriously. If you want to get your name listed on the dvd cases of lifelessly, mediocre flicks then you might as well save yourself the trouble of writing these amateur reviews and just deliver a single whorish quote to whatever studio willing to print your name all over their product.
November 26, 2009 6:33 AM
LEGION said:
Pete,
You're what's wrong with everything to do with Hollywood...And the human race.
Tell me, how did it feel when you and your group of ape-men missed the encounter with the Monolith, and the evolved Ape-men then came out and beat the **** out of you by the water hole?
November 26, 2009 6:14 PM
Disturbed said:
Wow, I wonder what boxoffice.com thinks about this reviewer. Shouldn't work as one anymore.
November 26, 2009 8:32 PM
weals said:
old dogs was pretty cooooooooooooooooool movie. hope this will go to top box office record.
source
http://blog.80millionmoviesfree.com/in-theaters/watch-old-dogs-online
November 26, 2009 8:43 PM
carraway said:
sooo, I guess you didn't notice you were the only one laughing at the screening.
November 27, 2009 3:53 AM
Mike said:
It's best to ignore this reviewer. And Box office as well. I saw the movie, and it was truly awful. It wasn't the actors who made the movie awful. It was whoever edited the damn thing.
November 27, 2009 7:13 PM
Alex said:
To previous commenter "i say shut the **** up. . ." :
You're just a dick because nobody likes you... because you're a dick... because nobody likes you... etc. Hey, a perpetual motion dick machine!
November 27, 2009 10:24 PM
Balls Johnson McGee said:
Look at this idiot's review history. It's almost impossible to make a movie bad enough that this moron will give it a bad score.
November 28, 2009 7:32 AM
sarcasticman said:
It must be april 1st...you say you actually LIKED this junk? williams and travolta humiliate themselves in this horrid piece of crap. honestly, i don't like either one of them, so i'm
happy for them
November 28, 2009 8:32 AM
Nikki said:
Wow, you all are idiots. Do u honestly think they give a rats *** what any of u think ? They already got u to go to the movies & watch it, which means they just got paid . So if anyone's a joke it's all of u f***ing crazy a** people. Get a life & quit talking smak. Let me see u do any better. Till then, zip ur mouths. Let the writters do their jobs, let the actors do theirs & the rest of you can get a real life. I haven't seen the movie & I'm still gonna watch it, NO matter what anyone says. And by the way Travolta & Williams are old school & they still freaking rock the box office !!! I'll watch any & every movie they make. So eat your words & quit acting & thinking that you little people speak for everyone in the world. Because you don't !!!
November 28, 2009 12:18 PM
Anonymous said:
did we see the same movie?
November 28, 2009 7:56 PM