Old Dogs (3/9/2010)

Rated PG for some mild rude humor.

Directed by Walt Becker (Wild Hogs)

Starring John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston and Seth Green

Todd’s Word: The movie should have been called “Old Jokes.” It just wasn’t funny.

Jonathan’s Word: Wow. That’s pretty harsh. Sure, Old Dogs wasn’t the most original film I’ve seen, but it made me laugh. I wouldn’t turn it off if it was the only thing on.

Charlie (John Travolta) and Dan (Robin Williams) 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 sure 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?

Todd’s Word: My kids have been begging me to watch Old Dogs for a couple of weeks now. They told me it would be a great choice for our weekly family movie night and a great film to review for The Source. So I gave in.

Here’s the deal, I love our family movie night, but this was torture…and my kids agree. As soon as it was over I asked them what they thought. My daughter rolled her eyes and my son pretty much apologized.

Jonathan’s Word: Wow. My kids had been asking to see it as well. We thought the previews looked pretty funny. Our only fear was that the previews would be the only funny part (I’m sure you’ve experienced that). When all was said and done, we all enjoyed it. It wasn’t the funniest film we’ve seen. But it was fairly entertaining.

Todd’s Word: I thought that the story left a lot to be desired…especially for a Disney film. Besides being stale and predictable, there are plenty of themes that are more mature than expected like divorce, drunkenness, prison and gay jokes – not to mention Robin Williams in a Speedo – my eyes are still burning.

Jonathan’s Word: It wasn’t raunchy. But I admit, the word “clean” probably depends a lot on the context. On one hand, I’d call this film fairly clean. But I admit, that’s just because, by today’s standards, everything is amazingly raunchy. This film was about the same level of clean that Shrek was. In other words: a few jokes that you hope go over your kids heads, and a few that you’ll have to ask them not to repeat. Pretty sad.

I guess we shouldn’t have expected something completely innuendo free from Robin Williams.

Todd’s Word: Speaking of Robin Williams, I’ve never been a fan and quite frankly I don’t get what people find funny about him. In Old Dogs he was his typical annoying self. Except this time he has somehow won the affection of Kelly Preston – without even thinking about it I can list a handful of Disney movies with more believable plots including talking animals and a DA turning into a dog.

Jonathan’s Word: Believable, no. You’re right there. But to say Robin Williams isn’t funny, is to say Michael Vic or Dennis Rodman aren’t good athletes just because you don’t like them.

Yes… I don’t care for Robin Williams in real life. He tends to be pretty raunchy. I think it’s too bad, because I think he’s extremely talented, and yes… I think he’s funny.

Todd’s Word: Well, I usually like John Travolta (although he has had his share of duds). He is usually pretty entertaining on screen. But he just seemed so lost in this role. One minute he is a bumbling idiot and the next he is a savvy business man who is good with the ladies. So either he didn’t understand the character or the director had no idea what was happening.

Some other Hollywood talent that is completely wasted is Seth Green, Justin Long, Matt Dillon and Bernie Mac (it’s a real shame that this was his last film). I’m still trying to figure out how they got all of these guys to say yes in the first place.

Jonathan’s Word: I guess I didn’t see it as a waste. I thought those actors actually brought something to the plate. Trust me. I’m not arguing that the film is something great. Far from it. But I think it was amusing and some may enjoy it. Personally, I wouldn’t even dish out the $4 buck to rent it.

Todd’s Word: I’d go even further. This DVD’s only value will be to hold my drink. It’s a Coaster!

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
This wasn’t the clean family movie I was expecting. Some themes will go over the heads of younger viewers, but the rating was probably accurate. Not dirty like a PG-13, but definitely some mild rude humor.

Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):

1. What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
2. How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
3. How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?