Old Dogs
Old Dogs
PG | 24 November 2009 (USA)
Old Dogs Trailers

Charlie and Dan have been best friends and business partners for thirty years; their Manhattan public relations firm is on the verge of a huge business deal with a Japanese company. With two weeks to sew up the contract, Dan gets a surprise: a woman he married on a drunken impulse nearly nine years before (annulled the next day) shows up to tell him he's the father of her twins, now seven, and she'll be in jail for 14 days for a political protest. Dan volunteers to keep the tykes, although he's up tight and clueless. With Charlie's help is there any way they can be dad and uncle, meet the kids' expectations, and still land the account?

Reviews
TownRootGuy

Seth Green should have gotten a bigger role, it would have made this a must see comedy. As it is it has a great cast, some FX AND you may not laugh a lot but you could end up looking like you're really happy about it. This is worth seeing but I can only watch it every 5 - 7 years. One scene does not a movie make. That and after 40 years I think Travolta fatigue is setting in.

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brchthethird

Disney has put out some good movies, and some stinkers. This movie fits firmly in the latter category. John Travolta and Robin Williams phone in their performances in this uneven mix of slapstick and schmaltz. John Travolta and Robin Williams play business partners who run a sports marketing firm, but when Robin Williams' character finds out he has children, he and Travolta have to play dad for a couple of weeks while the mother serves a little time in jail. Nothing about the plot was fresh or interesting although, to Disney's credit, they really don't deal with much outside of formula filmmaking anyway. There were a couple of visual gags that were legitimately funny...the first time around. But then they just keep using the same jokes over and over again. Kids might enjoy adults getting hit repeatedly in the groin, but not me. And then to make matters worse, there's some humor insinuating that the main characters are gay, which will go right over children's heads. Ultimately, this film is aimed at families with young children, but the humor is hackneyed at best and I don't see parents enjoying it too much. The message about the importance of family is admirable, but Disney has done much better than this in the past. Ultimately, this won't go down in the annals of Disney history as even a good film, and it certainly is one of the worst films that John Travolta and Robin Williams have ever made. Some old dogs just need to be put to sleep.

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ashleybrownmedia

Even though it has two huge stars in it I'd never heard of this flick until I happened to watch it earlier this year, randomly. I think it was on netflix or something.Basically Travolta and Williams are two business partners and Williams ends up having to look after children, which drags the two serious businessmen into a whole host of silly situations.It's a kids' film, but its one of those kids' films that has a lot of humour that adults can appreciate too. So, if you'd like to watch a film that both you and your kids will enjoy then get ahold of this. It's definitely not perfect but there are some great scenes - particularly the one where the two adults mix up their medication.

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elshikh4

What do you call a guy who does his job, makes what's needed, and sometimes, even if few, has his moments? I call him "good guy". Now this movie does its job, makes what's needed, and sometimes, even if few, has its moments? Well, I call it "good movie" ! This is nothing but a Hollywood product to entertain. And it is so frank about its identity. Many hated, cursed, and banned it. The main reason was being formulaic. However, it isn't a big mistake in my book, as long as that formula is filled with new, or amusing, stuff.Concerning "new" this time; Forget It ! It's a Not-a-kids-person who has to take-care-of-kids, and a buddy-comedy braided together. And so, you get the usual : A man who discovers that he has children, a very important deal that the leads want to make though kids got in the way, 2 friends disagree then make up, and – you bet – a climax where the working father has to prefer his family on his work (at least 100 American comic movies had that as a climax in the past 10 years alone!). Although none of that was new, it managed to be catchy and diverting. Since I laughed, then it worked. Enough defense I suppose !The comedy was so light, some moments did burst laughs. The soundtrack was mostly hilarious, with the right irony in the right situation just about every time. Nevertheless, the movie wasn't all *right* to tell you the truth ! Speaking about the wrongness leads naturally to the editing, Ahhhh the editing ! Torturing has to be a very good word to describe it. In the first 2 thirds I couldn't relish anything. It was crazily speedy, as if someone was pressing fast-forward sickeningly. Did you see how some moments were played that way? I don't know why to delay a fun moment like burning accidentally the old scout's statue, showing it as a swift flashback instead ??!! That weirdly miscarried what could have been the movie's biggest laugh ! Anyhow, I couldn't stand that "long trailer of a movie" technique. Its only logical reason could be a plan to shortening the movie from the producers' side. Unfair plan, shortening and producers then ! Robin Williams is good in anything. However, I positively believe that most of his choices don't deserve his talent. Every time I aspire to his next movie, thinking it the movie to express his uniqueness, to be multifariously disappointed. An old-fashioned Disney family comedy, such as this, was too easy for him or lower than his creative capacities. It was like asking David Copperfield to bring a rabbit out of a hat ! Moreover, face the fact : John Travolta wasn't so fit as the friend (Hated the hair, HATED IT!). Despite that he did his usual, and it wasn't bad, it proved, once more, that comedy isn't his tone. He doesn't have it to be an original comedian. He "acts" funny, with slight, very slight, original stuff; that's away from super. All the time I was wishing for (Billy Crystal) in that role. God, with (Crystal), the interplay, along with the comedy, would have been heavenly ! Couple of moments belonged to the toilet humor (or only the toilet !). They represented the movie's pure ugliness. I don't know who could enjoy such so-called humor ?! Sometimes you enjoy things, but don't enjoy seeing them. To make it clear; I enjoy being in the bathroom, but not seeing that cinematically, whether filmed me or others (and I'm not talking about taking a shower for sure !).The 2 kids didn't have anything to do. They were toys thrown around, being kids in the worst, most ignored, sense. Actually, the drama was unceasingly overshadowed or diluted. Seriousness was being fast-forwarded as well, whether by being put in a montage, or cutting it in the movie's distinct hysterical way ! A moment like seeing Williams's kid riding the bicycle for the first time should have been memorable, but this movie paid more attention to hearing the same kid farting on the toilet seat ! The whole line of "make me a robot to play with my kid" was between provocatively fabricated and utterly awful. OK, Williams could have made it on his own (He didn't need Travolta to be able of putting the tea cup on his lips !!). Then what kind of stupid emotional situation was produced by his fall? The kid had a psychological shock there, instead of simply laughing for god's sake ??! I can say, with great confidence, that this sequence will live long as a bizarrely idiot piece of drama ! I loved how the producers intended to fill the empty spaces with a list of cameos. Though they weren't special cameos, rather forgettable. The sole one that I'll personally remember is Ann-Margaret's. Ohh, believe it or not, she's still sexy (as for me, I can't believe it yet !).(Old Dogs) is a deal movie, where you smell the "deal" more than the "movie". It's predictable, flighty,.. however entertaining too. An old chestnut yes, but not entirely a dog's breakfast. It hits and misses, hits and misses, well, in the final outcome, it hits more.

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