davyd-02237 Largely a cast of young people plus dogs. very entertaining, if you want to be cheered up and laugh or cry and have some fun with a film, this one would suit you well. Great entertainment. This year I think I have seen either 2 or 3 films only that I would class as entertaining, this is one of those. Wonderful to watch

TheBlueHairedLawyer I remember when this came out; everyone where I lived was talking about it. Why? Well, the era we live in is becoming more and more messed up, people treat their dogs like humans rather than animals, and I'm not saying animal cruelty is right, it's extremely wrong, but dogs are dirty, they are animals, they are not civilized enough to be on the same level as humans. However, movies like this one work well with audiences because of the large group of people who started that "my dog is my fur-child" garbage. It doesn't make this movie any better.Hotel For Dogs follows the story of Andi and her little brother Bruce, two kids in foster care who aren't allowed to own pets. They find a dog named Friday and hide him in an abandoned hotel, starting a shelter of sorts for stray dogs only (I guess any stray cats they find are just left behind and they only take dogs). When the problem of keeping their shelter a secret arises, they have to pull their resources together to avoid losing their shelter.This is a highly predictable movie with every cliché from a dog lover's movie you can expect. There are fart jokes, there are people kissing dogs and dogs "kissing" people. There are overly fake kids, there are stupid names for the dogs, there are... you get the point. It is extremely similar to Good Boy! (2003) and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008). The only reason I watched it was because I won a DVD of it for an essay I wrote on how it's hypocritical to say animals should have rights but give dogs more rights than other animals.I hated the soundtrack, the acting was okay but typical and the plot was silly and pathetic even for a kid's film. They had a 23-year-old playing the girl, Andi, and FYI nobody in their right mind just has abandoned hotels sitting around for kids to hide numerous dogs in.I wouldn't recommend this to even a six-year-old, try something with no crude humor and avoid this stupidity unless you want your kid breaking into buildings and making dog poop jokes all the time. Try The Cat Returns (2002) or Racing Stripes (2005).

SnoopyStyle Andi (Emma Roberts) and her brother Bruce (Jake T. Austin) are foster kids staying with the annoying Scudders (Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon). Their social worker Bernie (Don Cheadle) has a hard time placing them together. They befriend a stray dog they call Friday. One night on the run from the cops, they run into an abandoned hotel where they discover a couple more strays. The duo try to create a home for homeless dogs with the help of Dave (Johnny Simmons), Heather (Kyla Pratt), and Mark (Troy Gentile).There is a very sweet and poignant story here. The foster kids don't really have a home, and neither do the stray dogs. Their parallel plights make for a great heart breaking story. However this is strictly a kiddie movie. I don't have a major problem with that. Although there are quite a few poop jokes and silly kiddie moments.

filmsbythefire Kids movies these days vary incredibly, don't they? Currently, I think one of the best producers of good kids movies is Pixar - recent works such as Wall.E and Up (though I haven't seen the latter, it is greatly praised) are true masterpieces which can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. They embody what good kids films should be. While Hotel for Dogs does attempt to do this, it's clear the only real appeal is the dogs. The storyline is thin and very, very predictable. It's got all the typical clichés of dog movies - the pound are the enemy (the real-life pound are actually a valuable and caring service), the dogs are all adorable and in pet-show-winning condition, and the humans pretty much take a back seat when the canines are on the screen. Aside from the impossibility of the whole thing, what really got me was how perfect all these 'strays' were? I understand that they could hardly use untrained, ill or injured dogs, but they could have perhaps picked less pristine ones - even kids will have a hard time believing these purebred mastiffs, poodles and Chinese crested pooches are actually strays. Any half-decent dog breeder would kill to get their hands on some of these beauties! Still, the lead dog, Friday, really stole the show, and the main reason I watched this right through, as I cared about what happened to him in particular. The human roles are, by contrast, quite poor - two children with no moral values, another two who are necessary to the plot in order for the first two to be able to afford the pet food, and one other one who is there purely to ensure the other girl has a boyfriend at the end (everyone hooks up with each other, of course. Can boys and girls never be just friends in Hollywood?) And you'll know who the foster kids will end up with from the start. If you have children between about 4 and 10, this film should prove an enjoyable treat. But the adults - well, here's hoping you have a lot on your minds to think about while it's on. Otherwise, you'll be pretty bored.