Hotel for Dogs (2009)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Best movie of this year hands down!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

'Hotel for Dogs' this reviewer didn't find to be a great film, but there is far worse to choose from out there.'Hotel for Dogs' was basically nothing more or less than a harmless diversion, that knew what it wanted to be and who it was aiming for (though for a family film, children are more likely to enjoy it more than adults).There is a good deal to like about 'Hotel for Dogs', as well as an equal amount of not-so-good things. The star of the film is the dogs, who are simply adorable and very well-trained, loved the scenes and tricks with them that were adeptly choreographed, entertaining and cute. One of the film's highlights was the climactic escape across the city, which was quite exciting and paced in a very spirited way.It's a good-looking film too, while the photography and editing are not award-worthy as such the film flows well visually and narratively and it's very nicely photographed. The locations and settings are beautifully done too. John Debney's score has the right amount of the rousing, the whimsical and the sentimental, with some sweet song choices.Generally the dogs are more interesting than the humans, but Jake T. Austin and Emma Roberts are spirited, charming and compassionate child leads and Don Cheadle brings splendid dignity and compelling charisma to the most reasonable of the human characters, making the most of his very heartfelt speech (which will delight many people, but may be too much for the cynics). The message is well-meaning and heart-warming However, the rest of the cast don't make much of an impression in pretty depth-less stereotypical roles and with too many instances of weak, trite dialogue. The rest of the children are not as natural in their presence or comic timing, which come over as forced and trying too hard.Kevin Dillon and Lisa Kudrow over-compensate badly (and often embarrassingly) as the foster parents (particularly Kudrow, who proved herself very funny and often hilarious and a scene stealer on 'Friends') and the dog catchers are just annoying and there isn't much need for them other than being a plot device.While there are amusing, never hilarious, and touching moments, and many cute ones with the dogs, they don't come consistently. Laughs generally, in number and size, were lacking, and 'Hotel for Dogs' does fall into danger of being on the too-sentimental-and-contrived side. The story, while swiftly paced and with a number of nice scenes (apart from suffering from a slow and uninteresting start), is predictable, contrived and too good to be true, the very idealistic view of the adoption system may not worry people too much (there were some genuinely affecting parts still, if in a disarming way) but how things are so easily and conveniently wrapped up by the end is very likely to do. This reviewer found it an ending smelt from miles away, and even then still found it too easy and convenient.All in all, harmless and inoffensive diversion, not bad, but not great. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I remember when this came out; everyone where I lived was talking about it. Why? Well, the era we live in is becoming more and more messed up, people treat their dogs like humans rather than animals, and I'm not saying animal cruelty is right, it's extremely wrong, but dogs are dirty, they are animals, they are not civilized enough to be on the same level as humans. However, movies like this one work well with audiences because of the large group of people who started that "my dog is my fur-child" garbage. It doesn't make this movie any better.Hotel For Dogs follows the story of Andi and her little brother Bruce, two kids in foster care who aren't allowed to own pets. They find a dog named Friday and hide him in an abandoned hotel, starting a shelter of sorts for stray dogs only (I guess any stray cats they find are just left behind and they only take dogs). When the problem of keeping their shelter a secret arises, they have to pull their resources together to avoid losing their shelter.This is a highly predictable movie with every cliché from a dog lover's movie you can expect. There are fart jokes, there are people kissing dogs and dogs "kissing" people. There are overly fake kids, there are stupid names for the dogs, there are... you get the point. It is extremely similar to Good Boy! (2003) and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008). The only reason I watched it was because I won a DVD of it for an essay I wrote on how it's hypocritical to say animals should have rights but give dogs more rights than other animals.I hated the soundtrack, the acting was okay but typical and the plot was silly and pathetic even for a kid's film. They had a 23-year-old playing the girl, Andi, and FYI nobody in their right mind just has abandoned hotels sitting around for kids to hide numerous dogs in.I wouldn't recommend this to even a six-year-old, try something with no crude humor and avoid this stupidity unless you want your kid breaking into buildings and making dog poop jokes all the time. Try The Cat Returns (2002) or Racing Stripes (2005).

"Hotel for Dogs" is just another boring live action Disney film, with annoying characters and a horrible plot, full of bad clichés and dumb jokes. Nothing in this film is remotely funny. The story was dumb and the direction was bland at best.The only good things were the dogs, but the human characters were annoying. This is a terrible movie, and I don't recommend it to anyone. I think that not even the kids would like this. Disney should stick to animated films and stop doing this boring and bland live action films. Along with "The Game Plan", "Hotel for dogs" is one of the worst Disney films. 0/10

Emma Roberts, Don Cheadle, Kevin Dillon, Lisa Kudrow and Don Cheadle all star in one stupid film. 2009 has had some fantastic children's entertainment. We had Up and Where the wild things are, both made my top three for the year. We also had Night at the museum 2, which wasn't art but was still decent. But before all of these good films, we had Hotel for dogs. Trust me, don't check into it. You can see what the hell is going to happen in this film once all of the characters are introduced.The plot is simple stuff. A brother and sister(Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin), who are living with their stupid foster parents(Kevin Dillon and Lisa Kudrow) decide to open up a hotel for a bunch of stray dogs. Them and their friends help also.While watching the film, you can definitely see where the hell it is going. You know that eventually the hotel for dogs will become a big thing. They will try to keep it a secret from the adults. They will get new foster parents. A lot of this film is unfeasible also. How would they get the money to make all of this crap? Where would they get the money for the dog food? They are kids. All I can really say about this movie that is good... well, not that much. Not even the dogs could save it. Well, perhaps they do a little bit. The dogs in the film are very cute. But besides that, the film is kind of like dog crap. It's not a total mess, but it's one of the worst films of the year. Predictable, cheesy, and a ton of other things, please be sure to stay away from this film.Hotel for dogs:*1/2 out of ****