Um Cão do Outro Mundo

I took my son, 8, to see "Good Boy" on a recent visit to Seattle. He gave it a '10', which is pretty good as he was ranking it right up there with a visit to the zoo and the Pacific Science Center. I'd give it a '6', pleading a reticent adulthood, but add that it's far better than the anti-family detritus Disney's turning out these days.

The MGM movie tells the story of Owen, 12, and the dog he adopts, that turns out to be from outer space on a special mission. "Good Boy" is easy to take, even with the obligatory couple of flatulence jokes that earned the "PG" rating(my son of course thought them hilarious). It was funny, drew a few tears out of both of us, and ended happily. What more could you ask in a family film?

I noticed this film got a low rating, maybe these people were not dog lovers. I thought the plot, if it was a plot, about the the "alien" dog was a little thin but the dogs were wonderful, the boy was great. Sometimes it's just good to go to the movies the enjoy a sweet little no-nonsense film that's just there for pure entertainment. I was entertained.

I thought that the plot was pretty creative, as was the writing. Two or three jokes related to bodily functions, but mostly they were cute jokes with creative insight on what a dog might say to us if we could understand them. Also, some creative insight on what a dog's place is in this world and who is really in charge of who. Some of the acting was a little stale(no academy awards here), but most of the acting was good to very good. My test is the "suspension of dis-belief" test. Can I forget reality long enough to accept the story line and think of the actors as the characters they are portraying? The answer here was yes. The acting was good enough that I suspended my dis-belief and was able to enjoy the story line and the humor. My kids are 7 and 4 1/2 and they loved it. For them, I will almost surely end up buying it. I would give it a 7 out of 10.

This movie is a little better than OK. It's wholesome entertainment that makes the not-terribly-original point that people and dogs have a special bond. And maybe it says a little about the alienation some children feel when growing up in a two-career suburban family.

The boy at the center of the film, Owen, is pleasant without stealing the show from the talking dogs. The girl who befriends him is equally pleasant and also not a show-stealer. The two boys who torment our hero and the dogs are sort of standard issue neighborhood bullies. Owen's dad is a stereotypical clueless father.

Owen's mom, however, is an interesting character. I think she's being played as an essentially decent woman who is too caught up in her real estate wheelings and dealings to notice that her son is lonely and a little depressed. However, to me she comes off as really creepy: a rootless, valueless suburban capital gains huckster who would sell the family home (and her son's happiness) in an instant it there was a buck to be made in it.

So why is this movie a little better than average? Well, the dogs are fun. The voice-over work is nicely-cast (old trooper Carl Reiner is especially good), the dogs get some funny lines, and some good computer work makes the dogs look pretty convincing at mouthing their lines.

I decided to write this because I'm annoyed with the review this movie got in the L.A. Times. It's their right to pan any movie, of course, but it bugs me when a reviewer dismissively puts down a movie like this because it's no Citizen Kane, or even Citizen Canine. Well, gee, it's a talking dog movie. It's not supposed to be deep.

This is a very entertaining lighthearted film, it's for anybody who has a pet. 12 year old Owen Baker(Liam Aiken) is a very lonely boy, who's best friends so far seem to be the neighbors dogs he walks everyday. Owen really wants one of his own. One day his parents take him to the pound to get one. He finds a cute dog and names him Hubble. But Owen slowly discovers, this is no ordinary dog. Who just happens to be a very intelligent dog from outer space. A pure delight for the whole family. Matthew Broderick is also good as the voice of Hubble. It's funny and delightful. Please don't quit making movies like this.