Australia's Best Movie Magazine

Film reviews

Tomorrow When The War Began

While the action fares slightly better than character development; this absorbing blockbuster deserves to be a hit.

Furry Vengeance

Full of clunky CGI and uninspired performances, this film is completely devoid of humour and heart.

Going The Distance

While occasionally opting for cheap laughs, this romantic comedy is entertaining, warm and feels surprisingly rooted in real life.

The Kids Are All Right

Driven by excellent performances, this entertaining film provides a fresh view of modern family life.

search the site

Enter search term:

newsletter

Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter

Enter search term:

Old Dogs (Film)

by Annette Basile | December 22, 2009 17:02 | Edited December 22, 2009 17:07

Not as bad as most critics claim, this un-Disney Disney movie has a few actual laugh-out loud moments.

Prostate pills, bereavement, ageing, ‘swinging bachelors'... this is not the stuff of a Disney family comedy. Yet that's what Old Dogs claims to be.

 

It's about two single men - lifelong buddies and business partners Charlie (John Travolta) and Dan (Robin Williams) - who wind up looking after seven-year-old fraternal twins Zach (Conner Rayburn) and Emily (Travolta's daughter Ella Bleu).

 

The kids are the result of Dan's whistle-stop marriage to Vicki (played by another from Travolta's clan, wife Kelly Preston). Dan, who's only just been informed of the twins' existence, makes an awkward instant dad. The kids arrive just as the old buddies are set to clinch a life-defining deal (what else?) with Japanese businessmen (who else?). We're in too-familiar territory here.

While many gags fall flat, there are just as many that spark - like when Travolta's character is confronted by a colony of pissed-off penguins. Travolta is in fine comic form. He's wonderful to watch as the ageing bachelor-boy Charlie. Williams, meanwhile, plays it like he's in a drama. His character is subdued, so when he does comically ham it up, it works.

 

The child actors are unimpressive, but the other supports are good, including Seth Green, Rita Wilson, the late Bernie Mac, a hilarious Matt Dillon (as a military-esque kids' camp leader), and a well-preserved Ann-Margaret in a cameo.

 

This film from Walt Becker (Wild Hogs) has been mauled by US critics. Not since Mike Myers' alleged comedy, 2008's The Love Guru, has a film been shown so little mercy. But Myers' film deserved it. This did not. Sure, there's toilet humour, plenty of general stupidity, and the twins are little more than a plot device. But it's watchable, sometimes highly amusing, and there's a sweet, genuine message about friendship and fatherhood. Its only serious crime is that it misses the mark as a family comedy.