Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that because this story involves animals, there's a lot of butt-sniffing and slapstick jokes. While no animals are harmed, an injection with a large needle and cattle prod are used to threaten them and -- since he's a dog --Tim Allen. Allen inadvertently appears nude in front of the courthouse (although no nudity is shown) and mutters, "Everyone's gonna need therapy after this."
Families can discuss what it would be like to live, albeit briefly, as someone or something else. If your kids could transform into anything, what would they pick and why? For the more adventurous, you might ask what your kids think about cruelty in animal testing, which the teenage daughter is actively protesting. Are there ever circumstances when it's necessary to test on animals?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Susan Granger
In this latest version of the Disney fantasy-adventure, Tim Allen is a workaholic father who learns about being a good dad only after he's transformed into a Bearded Collie.
Ambitious Deputy District Attorney Dave Douglas (Allen) is so ambitious that he often ignores his lovely wife (Kristin Davis), their idealistic teenage daughter (Zena Grey) and conflicted son (Spencer Breslin). He's actually in the midst of a complicated legal case involving animal testing in a biotech laboratory run by evil Dr. Marcus Kozak (Robert Downey Jr.) when he's accidentally infected with an experimental gene-mutation serum by a stray sheepdog. His weird affliction first manifests itself with growling and barking in the courtroom, but soon he's sniffing, scratching, licking and romping around, transformed into a replica of the sheepdog.
Confused and no longer able to communicate in human language, he befriends a motley menagerie, including a chimp, rats, rabbits, and a deadly King Cobra and, in doing so, gets his priorities straight.
"You have to do more than talk a good game," he realizes. "You have to commit to the family again."
Actually, this is the second Shaggy Dog update. In the original 1959 version, Fred MacMurray and Jean Hagen had to cope with their teenage son, played by Tommy Kirk, turning into a sheepdog after being cursed by an ancient amulet. Then in 1976, The Shaggy D.A. featured Dean Jones as the now-grown-up boy who still shape-shifted.
Writers Cormac & Marianne Wibberley, Geoff Rodkey and Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, working with director Brian Robbins, have the added advantage of advanced computer technology to enhance the outrageous episodes and slapstick comedy. But it's Tim Allen who wreaks hilarious havoc with an uncanny canine-like performance. There's lots here to entertain kids, who will be amused by all the silliness here.
Families who like this film may also like the original, Galaxy Quest, Toy Story, and The Santa Clause.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentNudity is implied but not shown as Tim Allen changes back and forth into a canine. |
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ViolenceCattle prod, injections used to threaten animals. Mild peril. |
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LanguageWords such as butt and pee. |
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Social BehaviorBad behavior is met with consequences. |
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CommercialismNumerous Kellogg's product placements (Pop Tarts, Special K, Rice Krispies) and Coca-Cola products (Coke, Diet Coke, Minute Maid). |
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