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Good Boy! (2003)
Runtime: 90 mins
Synopsis: What if you woke up and could understand what your dog was saying? Sit. Stay. Get ready for GOOD BOY!, a heartwarming, out-of-this-world comic adventure for the whole family that puts a modern spin on the classic story of a boy and his dog. The boy is Owen Baker (Liam Aiken), a... What if you woke up and could understand what your dog was saying? Sit. Stay. Get ready for GOOD BOY!, a heartwarming, out-of-this-world comic adventure for the whole family that puts a modern spin on the classic story of a boy and his dog. The boy is Owen Baker (Liam Aiken), a 12-year-old loner who has been working as the neighborhood dog-walker so he can earn the privilege of getting a dog of his own. His hard work pays off when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Baker (Molly Shannon and Kevin Nealon), let Owen adopt a scruffy mutt he names Hubble (voiced by Matthew Broderick). Both boy and dog get more than they bargained for when Owen wakes up one morning to discover he can understand every word Hubble says – including the ominous phrase: "Take me to your leaders." Owen learns that dogs came to Earth thousands of years ago to colonize and dominate the planet. Hubble (who is really named Canid 3942) has been sent by the powerful Greater Dane on a mission from the Dog Star Sirius to make sure dogs have fulfilled this destiny. Despite the best efforts of Owen’s rag-tag group of neighborhood dogs to convince him otherwise, Hubble soon discovers the awful truth about Earth dogs: "You’re all pets!" Now Owen (a boy who never had a friend) and Hubble (a dog who never needed one) must work together to prepare the neighborhood dogs for a visit from The Greater Dane – or all dogs will be removed from the planet! The fate of Earth dogs hangs in the balance, and it’s up to Owen, Hubble, and their canine companions to save man’s best friend. Combining visual effects technology and countless hours of careful animal training with a smart canine cast and a talented roster of voice talent (including Delta Burke, Donald Faison, Cheech Marin, Brittany Murphy, Carl Reiner, and Vanessa Redgrave), GOOD BOY! is a laugh-a-minute adventure as full of fun as it is full of heart, sure to appeal to families – and dog lovers – all over planet Earth. MGM Pictures presents a Jim Henson Pictures production of GOOD BOY!, starring Molly Shannon, Liam Aiken, and Kevin Nealon, and featuring the vocal talents of Matthew Broderick, Delta Burke, Donald Faison, Cheech Marin, Brittany Murphy, Carl Reiner, and Vanessa Redgrave. Directed by John Hoffman from his screenplay, based on a screen story by Zeke Richardson and Hoffman, the film was produced by Lisa Henson and Kristine Belson, executive produced by Stephanie Allain. The accomplished production team includes director of photography James Glennon, production designer Jerry Wanek, editor Craig P. Herring, composer Mark Mothersbaugh, and co-producer Bill Bannerman. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Liam Aiken, Molly Shannon, Kevin Nealon, Matthew Broderick, Donald Faison
Screenwriter: John Hoffman, Zeke Richardson
Producer: Stephanie Allain, Christine Belson, Lisa Henson
Composer: Mark Mothersbaugh
Reviews
Like a flea-ridden old hound that hasn't learnt any new tricks and insists on slobbering over your shoelaces, it's curiously loveable all the same.
This high-concept melding of E.T., Dr. Doolittle, and Roots is goofy enough to intrigue.
The ensuing wackiness will no doubt please children given to mooning over the family pet; it will lull their parents into a painless, agreeable stupor.
Good Boy! is in that mid-range of family films that kids will like and that parents will enjoy rather than endure.
First-time director John Hoffman ... betrays a novice touch, shuttling the film between slapstick sequences and sentimental excess.
Liam Aiken is the heart of this movie; the fantastic voice casting and animal training is the machine. Both serve their purposes well.
...folks will be barking up the wrong tree if they were to consider this pooch picture an escapist treat for impressionable minds...Good Boy! is nothing but a bland knockoff of Spielberg’s E.T.
For adults, there's the yearning for the days of when your mutt was your best friend and the only one who understands you, and that's enough of a nostalgic reason to go see "Good Boy!"
For adults, there's the yearning for the days of when your mutt was your best friend and the only one who understands you, and that's enough of a nostalgic reason to go see "Good Boy!"
Broderick's misplaced voice-over is just one miscalculation of many, amid the lame special effects, poorly sketched parents and forcing the great Carl Reiner to give voice to an old sheepdog's comments about flatulence.
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