Movie Review: Hotel For Dogs

I had a hot date this afternoon. He was cute and sweet and fun to be with. He was, and is, my seven year old baby. I spend a lot of time with my boys but it's not always what they would consider fun and it's usually as a group. In an attempt to spend more one-on-one time with the boys, I've instituted a weekly date. Last weekend, Adam and I went out to lunch. This weekend Evan wanted to see Hotel For Dogs.



Despite the fact that a dog lives in my house, I do not like dogs and I definitely did not want to see this movie. But I did want to spend time with Evan. We don't go to the movies very often but I figured, with just the two of us, it wouldn't be too pricey. We took some candy and water bottles with us but I did end up spending $12 for matinee tickets.



As for the movie...



I liked it more than I thought I would but Evan didn't like it as much as he thought he would. The two main characters are lovable enough, though I certainly wouldn't let my children hang out with them. They're your typical movie juvenile delinquents that have "good reasons" for behaving badly and breaking the law. It makes you care about them and I actually teared up at the happy ending. But, an impressionable child might see their actions as permission to break rules and laws to achieve good results.



The movie had dogs and poop jokes so it did keep my seven year old boy entertained. Evan liked it but he said it wasn't as funny as the commercials made it seem... a little too much story and not enough kicks in the groin. LOL



In the end, it was a movie we both enjoyed. I appreciated the lack of foul language and sexual innuendo that you so often see in kids' movies. Evan enjoyed all the cool gadgets and, of course, the dogs. It would have been nice if most of the adults weren't portrayed as evil, self-serving, and/or brainless. The dog pound and dog catchers were portrayed as anti-dog entities and Evan and I talked about how dog pounds are actually available to help dogs, not eliminate them from the face of the earth! We also talked about the kids' bad behaviour and why it isn't excusable in any situation.



So, would I recommend it? If you have some dog lovers in your family, put Hotel For Dogs in your Netflix Queue. It is worth watching but not for the price of movie tickets. Plus, watching it at home will give you the chance to talk about some of the not-so-Christian values in the movie and how we can help others when they make bad choices.