(Credit: amazon.com
Directed by
Brian Robbins
Cast:
Tim Allen …. Dave Douglas
Kristin Davis …. Rebecca Douglas
Zena Grey …. Carly Douglas
Spencer Breslin …. Josh Douglas
Danny Glover …. Ken Hollister
Robert Downey Jr. …. Dr. Kozak
Joshua Leonard …. Justin Forrester
Shawn Pyfrom …. Trey
Bess Wohl …. Dr. Gwen Lichtman
Jarrad Paul …. Larry
Annabelle Gurwitch …. Justin Forrester’s Attorney
Jane Curtin …. Judge Claire Whittaker
Philip Baker Hall …. Lance Strictland
Remember when Disney films used to be cute, and really charming? Sure, their live action fare in the company’s heyday always played second fiddle to their animated classics, but the studio still pulled off some great films with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Old Yeller, and Darby O’Gill and the Little People. One of these charmers was the original Shaggy Dog starring Tommy Kirk and Fred MacMurray. The movie was sweet and actually made you like the characters, as well as being successful enough that it spawned an entire series. Unfortunately, its also spawned a remake.
One word kept popping up while I watched Director Brian Robbins’ shiny new 2006 version of The Shaggy Dog; cliché. This movie’s never met a cliché it didn’t like. First off, let’s talk about the film’s main character, Tim Allen’s Dave Douglas. He’s a married father of two, but he really doesn’t have time for his family. He’s a flashy prosecutor and next in line to become his city’s new district attorney, if only his personal life were as good as his professional one. This “busy dad” is a Disney stalemate, but man is it tiresome here.
Next up is his family of clichés. His wife Rebecca (Kristin Davis) is beautiful, but tired of waiting for Dave to take a real interest in her. She feels that her husband is really out of touch with her family and can’t believe he won’t take more interest in their children. This particular day she’s upset because Dave won’t take time out of his HIGHLY PUBLICIZED CASE to take part in parent/teacher conferences. I can’t believe this tool would actually go to his job, try to further his career, and continue to pay their bills instead of taking time to talk to his son’s teacher about math grades, but what do I know. I know Kristin Davis is a talented actress, so why does she come off as trite here? Let’s continue.
Adding to this lovely family is a couple more cliché’s. First there’s Spencer Breslin’s Josh Douglas, the son who is failing in school because he’s too caught up in Football, and of course the fact that his dad doesn’t pay enough attention to him. Then there’s Zena Grey’s Carly Douglas, who’s the “rebellious teenager”. She’s currently protesting for the defense in the big case her father is working on and has a boyfriend Dave doesn’t approve of. It’s as if the screenwriters took a mad lib and just inserted names.
At any rate as the film went on, a few more words popped up; banal, hackneyed, hokey, uninspired, unoriginal, used-up, vapid and worst of all, unfunny. When Dave is bitten by an immortal shaggy dog, he turns into one himself. Now I know Tim Allen has the ability to be funny from his voice work in the Toy Story movies and also his starring role in Galaxy Quest, but here he just isn’t given anything good to work with. Almost immediately Allen’s growling and butt sniffing jokes go really flat and are never able to generate more than a groan.
What may be an even worse offense is the quality cast that is trapped in this movie. Robert Downey Jr. is an “evil scientist” trying to unlock to secrets of the shaggy dog to be able to gain his own immortality. Downey is able to come out of this movie the most unscathed, as his ticks and little intricacies make him at least fun to watch, but he’s still lost here. His character is financed by Philip Baker Hall’s Lance Strictland, who’s an “evil billionaire”. I was perhaps most saddened to see Danny Glover as the film’s “retiring District Attorney” and was hoping for at least one “I’m getting too old for this…”, but it never came. These three would have been awesome in a Lethal Weapon sequel, but instead they end up here.
With the critical success of Sky High last year, Disney made one of the best live action films it had made in years. Now with The Shaggy Dog we get another entry in a long line of terrible and unnecessary remakes that include The Pink Panther and Poseidon from this year alone. Please Disney, just keep putting out Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and leave bad remakes to the other studios.
Score: 2.5/10
The Video
The movie looks fine. There seems to be no obvious problems with this print at all. The movie is available on this disc in both Anamorphic Widescreen and Fullscreen with aspect ratios of 2.35:1 and 1.33:1.
The Audio
No real problems with the audio on this disc either. The movie is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio Commentary, Deleted scenes, Bloopers, Sing Along.
Audio Commentary With Director Brian Robbins And Producer David Hoberman – Boy, these guys really love what they’ve done here. There’s a particular scene in a kennel they compare to Silence of the Lambs. Another section has them marveling about how good Tim Allen is at the film’s physical comedy. I wonder if anyone has the heart to tell them how really bad this movie is.
Deleted Scenes – You get five minutes worth of deleted scenes on the disc, but they don’t really amount to much. The best one features an alternate ending for Robert Downey Jr.’s character as he plays fetch with Tim Allen.
Bloopers – This is two minutes of bloopers that aren’t funny.
Bark-Along Bone-us Feature For Your Dog To Enjoy – Yes, the words “Bone us” appear on the back of this DVD. I’ve seen other DVD’s with those words on them, but they don’t star Tim Allen. Did I mention this is the worst special feature in the history of the DVD format? While there is a rip off version of Woop, There It Is! for kids to sing along with here, there is also a “bark along” for your dog. Consisting of clever lyrics such as woof and ruff, this “bark along” is the only thing on this disc more insulting than the movie.
Score: 2.5/10
| InsidePulse’s Ratings for The Shaggy Dog | |
