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4 stars****

Having considered reviewing this movie from a child’s point of view, I found I enjoyed it all the way through, so on reflection it’s better to give an adult, (a ‘child at heart’ adult) analysis of the movie.

It’s a good screenplay, the laughs come along regularly and there aren’t any parts where you feel the need to write your grocery shoping list while getting bored.

So often ‘Disney’ type films for children are so sanitized, that they offer just a few big action moments and not much story in between. Some Disney films are quite brilliant, but the current trend into meaningless animated features with star names for the voices, leaves so much to be desired, but I’m not seven years old anymore; I’m not their target market, although the theatres like children’s movies because they bring their parents/guardians/uncles/grandparents and get to sell three over-priced soda and popcorn/hot dog selections. This isn’t a Disney product, but comes from Dreamworks with Nickelodeon. Perhaps that’s why it doesn’t ‘feel’ like a Disney. It ‘feels’ more like a complete movie for all ages.

The story comes from Lois Duncan’s novel of the same name (I must go get a copy), with the screenplay being adapted by Jeff Lowell, Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. These guys have attacked the structure of the screenplay like an ‘A’ listing Hollywood movie. It has all the plot points at exactly the right position and could all have been using Blake Snyder’s ‘Save the Cat’ methodology for writing this screenplay.

Emma Roberts and her brother Jake T Austin are two kids who live with weird foster parents (including Friends’ Lisa Kudrow playing the same Phoebe Buffay type character, but perhaps slightly stranger, if that’s possible.) The kids have a dog – Friday – who they have to hide from their foster parents and find a good local home for him when they stumble across a local disused hotel. Word gets around and suddenly the hotel is full of dogs. The kids teach the dogs to entertain and look after themselves while the trainers are at school. Subsequently a problem occurs when the kids are elsewhere, the adults find out and the police get involved.

Enter the quite brilliant Don Cheadle who looks like he acts without trying, a sure sign that he’s working very hard. His short regular appearances keep the long term plans alive and being (almost) a children’s film, we have the worrying points just before the ‘everyone loves everyone’ big finish. The ending is exactly as you would have guessed all the way through the film, but it will guarantee that everyone is smiling when they leave the cinema. The extra sensitive movie critics will be looking for the sick bag, but that’s just because they can’t believe a kid’s film can be this good. More so, they won’t be able to bring themselves to admit it.

The use of good looking Emma Roberts, who must have been around sixteen when she made the film, will satisfy the male audience from ages 14 to 90, while children will idenfity with Jake T Austin’s eleven year old character. Apart from some cat lovers, the dogs will appeal to almost everyone. Throw in Don Cheadle for the women aged 25 and over and you’ll see how cleverly the writers have matched a movie for all audiences.

Interestingly, Lois Duncan herself emerges as an extra in a crowd scene. That’s a nice touch and a thank you to the original book author.

On a budget of $25 million, they’re over 100% ahead already before DVD sales, even after accounting for the theater’s 50% share. Perhaps other studios could take note of the high quality throughout this movie, great screenplay, appeal to all ages and the cost is a quarter of most budgets these days.

This is an excellent movie, take all the family and you won’t be disappointed unless you expect monsters and aliens and big blow up everything scenes. However, in their place you do have to admire the excellent variety of dogs on show and their wonderful comic moments. The dog training must have been of the highest order.

Dogs using human toilets? Yes toilet humor is still alive and working.