Wednesday, January 21, 2009

1/18/09: Hotel for Dogs (2009)

GRAB BAG
This is technically my first official viewing of a 2009 theatrical release. A ragtag group of young teens (including a brother/sister pair of foster kids) rescue stray dogs, which they keep in a condemned building where, curiously enough, the electricity is always up and running. My niece bawled uncontrollably when the story took an abrupt turn from the lighthearted to the bleak (all of the hounds sent to the pound and the brother and sister forcibly separated). I was forced to wax philosophical about a more innocent time when I myself lacked the cynicism to know that a kid movie like this can't possibly end on a sour note. And what a magnificently corny ending Don Cheadle gives us—as long as you're able stop your mind from boggling over how he got to this canine caper after Boogie Nights and Hotel Rwanda. Oh, well, I guess a paycheck is a paycheck. Rating: 3/5.

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