The Shaggy Dog

Starring Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr., Kristin Davis, Danny Glover

Rated PG

Compared to last year’s “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” “The Shaggy Dog” is a large improvement as far as Disney remakes are concerned. Even though the film uses almost every cliché and unoriginal plot idea around, children are going to enjoy the film nonetheless if only for Tim Allen’s wacky performance.

            Allen stars as lawyer Dave Douglas, who spends more time at his job than with his family, including his wife Rebecca (Kristin Davis), daughter Carly (Zena Gray), and son Josh (Spencer Breslin.) After Carly and Josh bring home a 300 year-old dog, Shaggy, Dave is bitten and finds himself acquiring the mannerisms of a canine. Soon, Dave literally morphs into Shaggy, and discovers more about his family, and an evil scheme by his client Dr. Kozak (Robert Downey Jr.) to use the age-old Shaggy to test a secret medicine that could lead to eternal life.

            The film does have several funny sequences, many of which involve Allen and his physical comedy as a dog, and with Downey Jr., who is hilarious in any movie. But “The Shaggy Dog” has too many scenes showing Allen’s faults as a father, a theme already explored in other Allen films like “The Santa Clause.” And, of course, there’s the obligatory “Who Let the Dogs Out” montage. Children will love “The Shaggy Dog,” and it tends to be a fun film to watch, even if it’s one you’ve seen done countless times before.

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