Hotel for Dogs

2009 "No stray gets turned away."
5.5| 1h40m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 16 January 2009 Released
Producted By: DreamWorks Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Placed in a foster home that doesn't allow pets, 16-year-old Andi and her younger brother, Bruce, turn an abandoned hotel into a home for their dog. Soon other strays arrive, and the hotel becomes a haven for every orphaned canine in town. But the kids have to do some quick thinking to keep the cops off their tails.

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Reviews

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!
Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?
Konterr Brilliant and touching
Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review
Jackson Booth-Millard This really is one of those duh! titles about what it is about, and it was so obviously a film made for families and dog lovers, it had moderate reviews from critics and sounded like it could be fun, directed by Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). Basically in Central City, Louisiana, orphans Andi (Aquamarine's Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have gone from one foster home to another for some time, social worker Bernie Wilkins (Don Cheadle) finds them new foster parents, they are uncaring Lois Scudder (Lisa Kudrow) and her untalented wannabe rock star husband Carl (Kevin Dillon). Andi and Bruce are strictly forbidden from bringing animals into their new home, but they are secretly caring for their adorable Jack Russell Terrier dog named Friday, they were originally willing to risk everything to look after their dog, but they know that he needs a place to stay out of sight. One night while on the run from police officers Andi and Bruce stumble into a huge abandoned hotel across their street and use this as the ideal shelter for their dog, soon enough they are joined by more dogs from the neighbourhood who have escaped the pound. The hotel soon becomes a paradise for the many breeds of stray dogs, and thanks to the ingenious engineering of Bruce there are many gadgets and activated systems to clean up after and feed the canine guests, they have help along the way from new friends from the pet shop, Heather (Doctor Dolittle's Kyla Pratt) and Dave (The Perks of Being a Wallflower's Johnny Simmons). Of course the dogs are not completely safe in the hotel, their barking gets the attention of the neighbours, and the dog catchers do eventually find and capture all the furry friends, but in the end Bernie helps the city see what good Andi and Bruce are doing for the many stray dogs of the city, and the end of the film sees an official Hotel for Dogs in business. Also starring Troy Gentile as Mark and Robinne Lee as Carol Wilkins. Roberts and Austin are likable as the young leading stars helping the dozens of mutts, Cheadle is fine but perhaps odd big star casting, and Kudrow nd Dillon get their moments as the mean and daft foster parents, it is a very simple story of children doing good helping dogs who don't have homes and saving them from the nasty dog catchers, there is a fair amount of slapstick to keep you entertained, and plenty of mischief, it is a fun family comedy. Worth watching!
mathknapp I am shocked to come to IMDb and see this movie with a rating under 5/10. Certainly the film is not art, but it a nice family film, a fun film, a good time film. Kids (and adults) will enjoy Bruce's contraptions, and the film solidly encourages kids to do the right thing and stand up for what they believe in. Best of all, they do not clutter the movie with useless subplots. Any romance between the characters is a minor strand, there are no false arguments to heighten tension. The plot stays focused and the kids (and even adults) will have a good time.I *HATE* dogs, and I liked this movie. That has to say something.
Rectangular_businessman "Hotel for Dogs" is just another boring live action Disney film, with annoying characters and a horrible plot, full of bad clichés and dumb jokes. Nothing in this film is remotely funny. The story was dumb and the direction was bland at best.The only good things were the dogs, but the human characters were annoying. This is a terrible movie, and I don't recommend it to anyone. I think that not even the kids would like this. Disney should stick to animated films and stop doing this boring and bland live action films. Along with "The Game Plan", "Hotel for dogs" is one of the worst Disney films. 0/10
Girish Gowda Usually, I don't like films which have real dogs in them. But, Hotel For Dogs came as a real surprise to me. Of course, the plot is predictable, but the actors & the adorable dogs brought this movie some heart. I don't understand the low rating. This movie was made for kids, not for adults, so you shouldn't have expected anything more than the predictable dialogues & happy ending.Andi (Emma Roberts) & Bruce (Jake. T. Austin) are two siblings who have lost their parents & are living in foster homes & the adults in that home are very annoying. One day their dog, Friday goes into an abandoned old hotel & it spends the night there. Somehow, the kids want a real family & they start rescuing dogs from all over the place to help the dogs avoid the pound with the help of their friends, Dave, Heather & Mark. They get into all kinds of trouble with the law.I was babysitting the other day & my little cousin wanted to watch this as soon as he heard it had dogs in them (he's 8 & very cute) & so I had to watch it along with him as no one else wanted to spend time on this with him & I like him (he has two elder sisters & they wouldn't see this, nor babysit him). This is a very fun family film. The acting was good, the dogs were awesome & the contraptions to help the dogs enjoy was cool. Seeing this as he enjoyed really made it good for me. The plot had lot of holes in it; like where did they get the money to feed so many dogs when they couldn't even pay for food for their first dog? And how could they build the hotel for the dogs without the owner's permission & is it really OK to break the law as long as you do it for the cute dogs? This is a kids fantasy after all & I let go of these problems.Lisa Kudrow (from the awesome show 'Friends') really didn't do much in this. Then again, the kids & dogs are the main attraction. Emma Roberts is a girl I loved in Nancy Drew (I was a huge fan of Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew during my teens, still am I suppose) & here also I liked her. The other kids were also OK. I'm a huge fan of Prison Break & did anyone notice Mark was eerily similar with his dialogue delivery & personality to a character in the TV show? If he is not his son, then its weird.6/10