|
| Parents
Television Council Reviews |
|
PTC reviews
aim to provide you with advanced information about an entertainment
offering so that you can be the final arbiter of what you and your
family see.
|
|
Get new reviews sent to your inbox!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hotel for Dogs
By Christopher
Gildemeister
Release Date:
January 16, 2009
MPAA rating:
PG for brief mild
thematic elements, language and some crude humor.
Starring:
Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon
Recommended age:
8+
Overall PTC Traffic
Light Rating:
Green
|
Sex |
Kissing, mild sexual remark |
|
Violence
|
Chases, one kick in crotch, slapstick violence |
|
Language
|
“poop,” “pee,” “crap,” “doo-doo”; multiple gags referencing dog
excrement; dogs shown urinating |
|
Behavior |
Cheating, lying, stealing from unsympathetic characters, defying the
law |
Andie and Bruce are teenage siblings
forced to live with grungy foster parents. While saving their dog Friday from
the pound, the teens find an abandoned hotel inhabited by stray dogs. With the
help of several other teens and Bruce’s skill at inventing machines to feed,
bathe and care for the dogs, the siblings transform the building into a “Hotel
for Dogs,” and by defying the evil Animal Control Office, round up all the
strays in the city. In the process, the lonely teens make a family for the
dogs…and for themselves.
Hotel for Dogs
contains some material which may be
mildly disturbing or offensive to some parents. The movie opens with Andie and
Bruce swindling a pawnshop dealer to get money to feed Friday. When confronted
by the police, Andie lies about the shop owner “stalking” her, and the two flee
from the police. Andie and Doug also pilfer food and other items from their
uncaring rock-music obsessed foster parents. Animal Control officers and the
siblings’ foster parents are presented as cruel, comic and bumbling, leading the
teens to defy them throughout the movie.
The movie also features slapstick
comic violence, such as adults knocked down by dogs or being bonked by various
objects. One teen comically kicks an Animal Control officer in the crotch. There
are also many gags which both openly and obliquely refer to dog excrement, and
dogs are shown urinating several times. Apart from words like “poop,” there is
no foul language in the movie. Sexual content is limited to chaste kisses
between Andie and her new boyfriend, and between the siblings’ social worker and
his wife, though at one point one teen refers to Andie and another girl as
“hot-lookin’ fine women.”
The movie contains several touching
and positive themes. At the end, the siblings’ social worker remarks on the
Hotel for Dogs, stating that the kids “didn’t get frustrated with the system
and give up. They didn’t make excuses – they just did it, and made their own
family.” The importance of family is emphasized and reflected in Andie and
Bruce’s loyalty to one another, the teens’ bonding in the hotel, and even their
concern about the dogs.
The Parents Television Council does
not recommend Hotel for Dogs for children under age 8.
Family Movie Reviews
The Parents Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
Have you seen this movie?
Comment on this review, Click here!
|
