Ozzy: The Fast and Furriest
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Potty humor, bullying, dark tone in animated dog tale.
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Ozzy: The Fast and Furriest
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Based on 8 parent reviews
Not for children
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So trash
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What's the Story?
OZZY is a dog living in a nice suburban home with a kind family. When the father, a comic book artist, is invited to participate in a conference, the family must find a kennel for Ozzy while they're away. They see a commercial on television for what appears to be a luxury spa kennel called Blue Creek. After checking out the facilities and meeting with the kennel's owner, the massages, sauna, and air of relaxation leave the family convinced that they are leaving Ozzy in the best kennel money can buy. But the moment they leave, the luxury accommodations are revealed to be a facade; the kennel's evil owner kidnaps Ozzy and leaves him in a prison-like sweatshop atmosphere, where he is forced into slave labor while being bullied by Warden Grunt (Jeff Foxworthy) and his alpha-dog prison guards and mafioso Vito (Rob Schneider) and his henchdogs. As Ozzy takes the abuse, he meets other, nicer dog-prisoners, some of whom are planning an escape from this cruel prison. Meanwhile, Ozzy's owners have returned from their vacation only to be told by the kennel owner that Ozzy has died. It's up to Ozzy and his misfit band of dog friends to somehow escape the prison, turn the other dogs against the kennel owner, and find freedom as well as their owners.
Is It Any Good?
This movie starts out nicely enough, then takes a rather dark turn when poor Ozzy is sent to what amounts to a sweatshop prison. Aside from a bully paperboy and his menacing bully dog, Ozzy's home in suburbia is spacious, and his owners adore him. But then Ozzy is abused verbally and physically, and his owners are told that Ozzy has died, leaving a little girl in tears. Somehow, the owners of dozens of dogs in a town have been told by an evil owner of what is ostensibly a luxury dog kennel that their dogs have died, and nothing has been done about it. Pet lovers and more sensitive viewers will be horrified by what they're watching.
Ozzy: The Fast and Furriest is an obvious attempt at a parody of prison movies -- the Southern good ol' dog warden, the Mafia don and his blockheaded henchmen, a dog with a Scottish accent just because -- but even that falls short, as the humor is so obvious and the characters so stock the joke hasn't been funny in decades. There's a forced lesson on standing up to bullies, but the cruelties and potty humor (dog urination, dog defecation) and the overall low quality of the movie overwhelm this lesson.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about animal-centered movies such as Ozzy: The Fast and Furriest. Why do most kids love movies about cute dogs, cats, and other animals?
Did the violence, bullying, and overall cruelty in the movie seem a bit excessive, especially for a G-rated movie?
Was this movie believable? Do you think a kennel could get away with telling multiple families that their dogs died during their stays and get away with it?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: April 21, 2017
- Cast: Jeff Foxworthy, Rob Schneider, Frankie Quinones
- Director: Alberto Rodriguez
- Inclusion Information: Latinx actors
- Studio: Viva Pictures
- Genre: Family and Kids
- Topics: Cats, Dogs, and Mice
- Run time: 90 minutes
- MPAA rating: G
- Last updated: September 20, 2019
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