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.

The FAMM winners for 2008 are:

Roll the drums please …

Best screenplay:

• Barry Levy – Vantage Point
The quality of writing didn’t get any better than this inter-twining epic as we see the same event from several viewpoints which are then brought together for a great finale.

Best film/movie:

• Mamma Mia!
There was no doubting this runaway winner, appealing to all sectors of the market with its outstanding direction, acting, music and of course, a gem of a screenplay.

Best actor:

• Don Cheadle – Traitor
A first class act that shows why this genius gives us brilliant performances time after time, with this almost as good as Hotel Rawanda showing.

Best actress:

• Penélope Cruz – Elegy
Delightful, believable; Cruz gives a sexy, warm then cold performance that made you want to love her and then loathe her and love her again.

Best musical:

• Mamma Mia!
The winner takes it all. No other musical movie managed to get anywhere near this Abba/Greek entertaining journey. Fun for all, except critics who won’t be seen admitting the truth.

Best score/music:

• Shine A Light –Rolling Stones
Beats Abba’s songs by such a slight shade almost certainly due to the longer history and the larger variation of styles, but it was oh so close, they both deserved to win.

Best director:

• Guy Ritchie – Rocknrolla
Proving he’s back to his best. I can’t wait for the next two in the franchise. Almost as good as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Best animation:

• Madagascar Escape 2 Africa
Well made, even if the plot was not a classic. The characters came alive.

Best short film:

• Gone Fishing by Chris Jones
Chris set his target to get a win at the Academy Awards for a short film; he’s on target with his nomination. A beautiful film looking at relationships; more than fishing.

Special FAMM mention 2008:

• Michael Caine
Who else could be a bit part actor in a movie and come away as the star turn. Someone (who?) said ‘you don’t direct Michael Caine; he just does a perfect performance every time.’ One of the greats of all time and continues to shine well into his mid-seventies.

Sorry if you favourites aren’t mentioned, please leave a comment to say who you think should have been included and/or who you believe should win these prestigious awards. If your faves are not here, it means we were too busy writing screenplays and missed your movie choice!

Written by Steve Martin (story) and Jeffrey Nachmanoff (screenplay) this slow moving, almost two hour movie, takes us on a ride from a terrorist’s view of making and delivering suicide bombs. With a twist of course and that’s given away by the title.

I can’t help but wonder if they’d kept the twist a secret until late in the film, whether we’d have been on the edge of our seats rather than just expecting it.

Of course, Don Cheadle, who also has an hand in the production of this movie, is just dazzling. Whatever role he touches, he adds so much. You don’t notice he’s acting, which proves his high qualities. He set high standards in both Crash and Hotel Rawanda, he just continues along those lines.

You can’t help but notice that as a black guy, he stands out amongst the Arab terroists, but who’s counting.

They take locations in the Yemen, London, Toronto, Washington, Los Angeles, France and other places to add to the movie’s budget.

The pace of the movie is only slightly racked up towards the end, just as you’d expect. Surely it was just a matter of time before the Arabs found out that their friend was their enemy?

It’s just a shame we knew the ending before the film started. Film makings should take us on a journey where at least some of the ending is held in a twist or a surprise, not exactly as we had anticipated.

The journey, however, was compelling watching. Don Cheadle didn’t need the supporting cast except to take him from scene to scene.

The crew wasn’t noticed; so that means they did a good job in filming, editing and sound. If there was any music, I can’t remember it at all.