1 hour, 40 minutes
PG Parental Guidance Suggested.
for brief mild thematic elements, language and some crude humor.
DVD Features: Closed Caption; Gadgets, Gizmos & Cool Contraptions; K-9 casting; Bark on Cue!; A Home for Everyone: The Making of Hotel for Dogs; Howl-arious deleted scenes; Cast & crew commentary featuring Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin
CAST:
Emma Roberts ... Andi
Jake T. Austin ... Bruce
Don Cheadle ... Bernie
Johnny Simmons ... Dave
Kyla Pratt ... Heather
Troy Gentile ... Mark
Lisa Kudrow ... Lois Scudder
Kevin Dillon ... Carl Scudder
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16 year old Andi (Emma Roberts "Nancy Drew") and
her brother 11 year old Bruce (Jake T. Austin - TV's "Go Diego Go") have lived in five
different foster homes since their parents died two years ago. Their
concerned social worker (Don Cheadle "Hotel Rwanda") warns them that their current
situation is their final chance to stay together. But Andi and Bruce
can no longer hide their dog Friday from their buffoonish foster-parents Lois (Lisa Kudrow - TV's "Friends") and Carl (Kevin Dillon - TV's "Entourage") and the lengths they go to in order to keep Friday safe and fed
frequently get them into trouble with the authorities, much to the distress
of Bernie who works
overtime trying to find a permanent home for the kids.
By accident one night Andi, Bruce and Friday find themselves in a
deserted hotel where a couple of stray dogs have taken refuge. They
add Friday to the pack, and before long a whole bunch of additional
dogs, many rescued from the city pound where, if left unclaimed, they’ll
be euthanized, are living. They
transform the hotel into a haven for stray dogs, aided by Bruce's innovative
mechanical inventions. They also get some help from their new friends Dave
(Johnny Simmons "Evan Almighty"), a pet shop clerk, Heather (Kyla Pratt "Dr. Dolittle"), his co-worker and Mark (Troy Gentile "Nacho Libre"), a neighborhood kid who quickly becomes interested in Heather..
Inevitably their arrangement goes awry, the dogs are rounded up, and a
military-style rescue operation has to be mounted, but happily everything
turns out well, not only for the canines but for Andi and Bruce as well. Director Thor Freudenthal ("Motel") has made a clever, breezy, but predictable family comedy that despite its delightfully wacky story will mostly entertain younger audiences.
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