Dog Days — 3.5 Gavels 52% Rotten Tomatoes

After Show Dogs, A Dog’s Purpose and Sgt Stubby, can there be such a thing as too many dog movies?  Dog Days is sweet and syrupy, so sweet that you may need to take insulin with you.  This is a movie in the Valentine’s Day genre where seemingly disparate people somehow meet and fall in love, all because of their love for dogs.  Absolutely, this has been done before.  Nevertheless, it overcomes a slow start and the quirky characters win you over with some very sentimental endings.  To top it off, the dogs seem to have a good time, too!  I give it 3.5 Gavels.  While the story has only a 52% Rotten Tomatoes rating, the 95% Audience Score may be more indicative of its family appeal.  And, it’s rated PG.

Plot

Grace and Kurt are about to adopt, but not a dog.  Rather, they are nervous about the young child entering their lives.  Tara wonders if she is wasting her marketing degree serving coffee, at least until she volunteers at a shelter.  Nina is happy as a “puppy” as a sole host of her morning TV show,  at least until the producers decide she needs ex-jock co-host.  Since his sister is having twins, carefree Dax is forced to watch her dog.  Of course, his apartment doesn’t allow pets.   Walter has no use for the pizza boy, Tyler, until his dog runs away.   Guess who finds the dog?

Actors

Eva Longoria and Rob Corddry make a wonderful couple as Grace and Kurt.  As always, their adopted child Amelia, played by Elizabeth Caro, steals the show.  Cute kid.  Vanessa Hudgens is Tara, so positively sugary that you know that good things will come to her.  Ron Cephas Jones and Finn Wolfhard really complement each other well as grouchy widower Walter and nuisance kid Tyler.  Nina Dobrev and Tone Bell spar quite well across the TV set as Elizabeth and Jimmy.

Final Thoughts

I shouldn’t have liked this movie as much as I did.  Perhaps, it was time for something different.  Not different as in unique, but different as in non-comic book, action hero, big blockbuster kind of movie.  This is a nice change of pace.  Directed by Ken Marino, and co-written by his wife, Erica Oyama, you can tell they put lots of love in this pic.  Moreover, you animal lovers will go crazy.  I wanted to adopt a dog after watching this flick.  Maybe, they put some subliminal message inside.  As a last family movie before school starts, you will walk out with a smile on your face.  Give yourself a treat.