OLD DOGS pairs old friends for a plot that seems, well, old

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | 2010 | Rated: PG | 88 minutes | List price: $44.99 | Get it for less at Amazon

In real life, John Travolta and Robin Williams are old friends. In OLD DOGS, John Travolta (Charlie) and Robin Williams (Dan) are old friends. In real life, Ella Bleu Travolta is John Travolta’s daughter. In OLD DOGS, Ella Bleu Travolta is Robin Williams’s daughter (Emily). In real life, Kelly Preston is John Travolta’s wife. In OLD DOGS, Kelly Preston is Robin Williams’s wife (Vicki). Get the picture? While it may seem like this could be a great vehicle for such closely related individuals in real life to work together on a project and let their natural chemistry create some great moments, much the way the George Clooney coven made the OCEANS 11 films seem like you were watching a group of good friends just having fun making a movie, this is definitely not the case with OLD DOGS. Instead, the audience is subjected to a tired, old plot retreaded out again on the screen.

OLD DOGS follows the two lifelong friends who own the hottest sports marketing agency in New York. Now on the verge of landing the biggest deal of their careers by picking up a coveted account from a Japanese company, the strait-laced and uptight Williams discovers that a wild, forget your troubles weekend in Florida he was forced to partake in by Travolta years ago, a weekend that caused him to get tattooed and married in his inebriated state, actually produced two children whom he did not know existed. His life is of course turned upside down when the mother of his children shows up with them and he now must take care of them. Will the cold, all business Williams warm up to the two youngsters? Of course he will, because, if one makes it through this film in its entirety, they will learn that at least it is always predictable in its plotting.

There are some lightly amusing moments, for instance when Williams’s and Travolta’s medicines, each with wacky side effects get accidentally mixed up by the children, or when the kiss-up young exec at the company, Seth Green (“Family Guy”) is coddled by a large gorilla. The fact is though, there are far too many moments in the film that while they could be comedic, are never allowed to develop and instead just are introduced by the screenwriter and then never followed up on. For instance, there is a subplot that involves Green’s character disappearing in Tokyo to pursue his karaoke addiction, but nothing is really made of this. Or there is the brief scene where a creepy Justin Long (ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO) is confrontational at a scout outing. Neither of these stories are even allowed to have a comedic payout, the filmmakers merely set up the jokes and then forget about them, and their inclusion instead of being humorous, instead seems disjointed and frivolous in the film.

In the end, the entire cast is much more talented than this film gives them credit for and unfortunately what could have turned out to be an amusing family comedy is turned into a lukewarm film with nothing to really offer to children or adults alike. That begs the question then, who in actuality is the intended audience for this film? Are kids going to care about the numerous scenes that are piled one atop the other about landing the Japanese business account? Are adults likewise even going to be interested? Are kids going to like the incredibly brief, and bizarre scene of Bernie Mac as a puppeteer onstage with large Muppets that is only inserted so as to give Travolta an excuse to wear a suit that gives him the ability to control Williams like a puppet? Everything is geared unfortunately for outlandish plot devices such as this and grow exceptionally tiresome throughout the movie. Unfortunately, with no real comedic moments to sustain these painful plot devices, the audience is left with little else.

Disney does do a great job in their Blu-ray packaging by including a three-disc combo pack that includes a Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy of the movie to ensure families can watch the film on a variety of platforms. The bonus features include:

• Young Dogs Learn New Tricks (2:51)
• Bloopers (2:26)
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary
• Music Videos: “You’ve Been a Friend to Me” and “Every Little Step,” a bizarre video of Travolta and his daughter singing and dancing together in front of giant letters spelling the young actress’s name in what appears more like a wealthy father’s home movie than a music video and just seems a bit too nepotistic as opposed to endearing (3:33)

To order directly from Amazon, CLICK HERE.

Movie Rating:

Blu-ray Bonus Features: LACKING