Good Boy!
Opens Jan 1

Starring:
Liam Aiken

With the voices of:
Matthew Broderick
Brittany Murphy

Directed by:
John Robert Hoffman

Puppy Love

By Ronald Wan · UrbanWire
· email reporter · email story · printer friendly

Oh boy, somebody call the SPCA and spare me the torture from these crazy dogs talking (or barking if you prefer) about being rulers of mother Earth. In short, spare me the poop talk.

Good Boy! slaps you in the face with its shallow message about the mutual love between a pet and its owner, accompanied with cheap circus gags that can easily be mistaken for a weekend dog show.

It is almost inconceivable for anyone to believe a plot that centres on a young boy named Owen Baker (Liam Aiken, last seen in Road to Perdition) who loves dogs so much that he adopts a terrier who happens to be sent from outer space to check on fellow canines on Earth. To top it off, the pups fly in saucers. It seems most of us have been having close encounters of the third kind all our lives.

There're no space invasions or doggie revolts, just Hubble the terrier (voiced by Matthew Broderick) communing with neighbourhood dogs and finding out why they turned out to be domestic pets instead of ruthless leaders of the world (In fact, there are leaders in our world who closely resemble ones on 4 legs).

This is no Babe or Lassie or Stuart Little but a weak movie executed poorly on a loose plot and mindless casting. Even the movie is not spared of stereotyping its characters - yes, the poodle dresses in pink coats. The absence of a substantial human actor and leaving the job to the friends on 4s - even with the voices of Brittany Murphy and Matthew Broderick seem puny - is a mistake on the amateurish director's part because the acting is unconvincing and looks painfully rehearsed.

You get no love from this movie, just a few laughs for the precocious kid sitting next to you. And they called it puppy love…

Rating:

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