Hotel For Dogs (DVD)

I don’t know about you but I’ve never believed in any of this “man’s best friend’s” guff. Barely any of my Facebook friends are dogs and I’m guessing yours aren’t either.  I can also remember Turner and Hooch coming out so am clearly way too old for this. In fact, I spent most of Hotel For Dogs either wondering if Don Cheadle’s casting as a social worker was intended as some horribly misguided Hotel Rwanda reference (hopefully not) or trying to decide whether promising teen actress Emma Roberts resembles her aunt Julia (she does).

Tempting as it is to rip it to shreds, however, the truth is Hotel For Dogs is blandly inoffensive provided you a) like dogs and b) are a child. Andi and Bruce (Roberts and Austin) are two orphaned siblings who unwittingly start the “hotel” of the title in a bid to find sanctuary for their stray Jack Russell.  Their wannabe rock star foster parents (Kudrow and Entourage’s Kevin Dillon) aren’t dog fans so the kids, joined by pet shop workers Heather and Mark, are soon very busy as the disused hotel they deploy as a makeshift animal shelter becomes a magnet for homeless hounds.

As with the film, the extras here are competent if unexciting. ‘The Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!’ featurette centres on the range of gadgets used in the film while ‘Bark On Cue!’ focuses on the sound difficulties caused by filming with canines. The unexciting commentary is enlivened by constant interruptions from the over enthusiastic teen stars.

If you think of Reservoir Dogs, Straw Dogs or Dog Day Afternoon, putting the word “dogs” or “dog” in the title of your film would seem an easy way to ensure it achieves classic status. Yet oddly, this same rule doesn’t seem to apply to films which actually have dogs in them. Hotel For Dogs also perhaps suffers for coming at a time when canine films are hardly a novelty. 2009 might as well be the Year of the Dog with Bolt, Marley & Me and Dean Spanley (which sees a dog being reincarnated as Sam Neill) already been unleashed on the public. While Marley & Me has already proven to be the most successful dog film of all time, viewers would be forgiven for wanting this latest cinematic trend put to sleep. Hotel For Dogs is unlikely to change their mind.

Overall Verdict: Competent enough but lacking in bite, this will be forgotten before next year’s Crufts.

Special Features:
Audio Commentary With Director Thor Freudenthal, Producer Ewan Leslie And Actors Emma Roberts and
Jake T. Austin
‘A Home For Everyone: The Making Of Hotel For Dogs’ Featurette
‘That’s The Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen!’ Featurette
‘K-9 Casting’  Featurette
‘Bark On Cue!’ Featurette
Deleted Scenes
Photo Galleries
Theatrical Trailer

Reviewer: Chris Hallam