Movie Review for Good Boy!

Summary: Owen Baker is a 12-year-old loner who has been working as the neighborhood dog-walker so he can earn the privilege of getting a dog of his own. His hard work pays off when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Baker, let Owen adopt a scruffy mutt he names Hubble. Both boy and dog get more than they bargained for when Owen wakes up one morning to discover he can understand every word Hubble says-- including the ominous phrase: “Take me to your leaders.” Owen learns that dogs came to Earth thousands of years ago to colonize and dominate the planet. Hubble (who is really named Canid 3942) has been sent by the powerful Greater Dane on a mission from the Dog Star Sirius to make sure dogs have fulfilled this destiny. Despite the best efforts of Owen’s rag-tag group of neighborhood dogs to convince him otherwise, Hubble soon discovers the awful truth about Earth dogs: “You’re all pets!” Now Owen (a boy who never had a friend) and Hubble (a dog who never needed one) must work together to prepare the neighborhood dogs for a visit from The Greater Dane--or all dogs will be removed from the planet! The fate of Earth dogs hangs in the balance, and it’s up to Owen, Hubble, and their canine companions to save man’s best friend.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle (8/0)
            It's ingratiating in that nice doggie way, but the dogs, who have had their lips enhanced via CGI...

By Jamie Russell of BBC (8/0)
            Like a flea-ridden old hound that hasn't learnt any new tricks and insists on slobbering over you...

By Wesley Morris of Boston Globe (8/0)
            Affecting Good Boy! is barking up the right tree.

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (8/0)
            The movie asks us to consider a race of superior beings who are built a few feet off the ground, ...

By Stephen Humphries of Christian Science Monitor (8/0)
            It's a wonder that the genre, started by the marvelous Babe, has any currency left after Cats and...

By Margaret A. McGurk of Cincinnati Enquirer (8/0)
            All in all, this live-action fantasy is carefully crafted to tickle young viewers.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend.com (8/0)
            Best left to young children and the parents forced to see it with them.

By Karina Montgomery of Cinerina (8/0)
            Liam Aiken is the heart of this movie; the fantastic voice casting and animal training is the mac...

By Steven D. Greydanus of Decent Films Guide (8/0)
            Basically harmless but uninspired, Good Boy! will leave viewers essentially none the worse for we...

By David Levine of E! Online (8/0)
            ...(Liam) Aiken prevents the film from being complete dog meat.

By Eugene Novikov of Film Blather (8/0)
            The high concept almost guarantees complete awfulness. In the face of such overwhelming odds most...

By Harry Haun of Film Journal International (8/0)
            First-time director John Hoffman ... betrays a novice touch, shuttling the film between slapstick...

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By David Levine of filmcritic.com (8/0)
            tastes like stale dog treats

By Richard Horgan of FilmStew.com (8/0)
            Based on an informal straw poll at the film�s grandiose family premiere, the audience most likely...

By Stephen Cole of Globe and Mail (8/0)
            Good Boy! is so gentle and fleecy, dozing parents might suspect a fabric softener was involved in...

By Kirk Honeycutt of Hollywood Reporter (8/0)
            ...a likable family film...

By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (8/0)
            A mix of E.T. and Cats & Dogs, it is a wonderfully sweet family film for all ages.

By Jim Slotek of Jam! Movies (8/0)
            Good Boy! is not one of those movies that appeals to adults and children on different levels. But...

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Andrea Chase of Killer Movie Reviews (8/0)
            the classic boy and his dog story. Okay, the dog is from outer space, but while that adds some pi...

By Frank Ochieng of Movie Eye (8/0)
            ...folks will be barking up the wrong tree if they were to consider this pooch picture an escapis...

By Dan Lybarger of Nitrate Online (8/0)
            Good Boy! is occasionally clever, but is never laugh out loud funny or gripping.

By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (8/0)
            Occasional laughs try hard but can�t salvage the tired storyline and pat conclusion

By Linda Cook of Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) (8/0)
            "Good Boy!" is rather fetching, especially for the small fry.

By David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews (8/0)
            ...perfectly suited for the small screen...

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Sarah Chauncey of Reel.com (8/0)
            Good Boy! may not be a classic, but it is a solid, upbeat, funny movie.

By Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle (8/0)
            ...a painfully dull kids' picture...

By Paul West of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/1)
            Will young kids like this movie? Probably. Does that make the movie any good? Hardly.

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (8/0)
            After a likable first act...the plot goes to the dogs.

By Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com (8/0)
            Pales when placed next to all the similar movies it is shamelessly derivative of.

By Angel Cohn of TV Guide's Movie Guide (5/3)
            Packs a lot of bark but not much bite.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Claudia Puig of USA Today (8/0)
            ...a family-friendly, familiar-seeming flick...

By Michael O'Sullivan of Washington Post (8/0)
            A simple but perfectly satisfying little story about a boy who wants to keep his dog.

By Daniel M. Kimmel of Worcester Telegram & Gazette (8/0)
            Good Boy! is in that mid-range of family films that kids will like and that parents will enjoy ra...

By Anita Gates of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            As children's film premises go, this is a cute one, but the execution is a failure.

By Fred Topel of About.com (3/5) No reference
            I demand a bit more from... kids films. You have the potential to engage the most open imaginatio...

By Kathy Cano Murillo of Arizona Republic (3/5) No reference
            A swell flick for kid.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/5) No reference
            Good Boy! is so doggone cute, it's a sure bet to become a fixture in family video collections...

By Kim Williamson of Boxoffice Magazine (3/5) No reference
            Though well distant from family-classic status, Good Boy! offers just enough to succeed in its mi...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (3/5) No reference
            ...speech is not the real problem with Good Boy! What they talk about is.

By Ellen Fox of Chicago Tribune (7/1) No reference
            A devastating work of pro-doggie propaganda.

By Ellen Fox of Chicago Tribune (7/1) No reference
            ...a tearily adorable canine valentine.

By Bill Pearis of Citysearch (3/5) No reference
            This flick's poo jokes are of a superior breed than you'd find in a Rob Schneider comedy.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (7/1) No reference
            You could simply make a 90-minute-long film of dogs running around and it would be better than Go...

By Tom Long of Detroit News (3/5) No reference
            A movie that just doesn't live up to its potential.

By Sean O'Connell of Eclipse Magazine (3/5) No reference
            Hoffman�s deliberate pace may have parents chasing their tails in a struggle to stay awake, but c...

By Adam Nayman of eye WEEKLY (7/1) No reference
            The ensuing wackiness will no doubt please children given to mooning over the family pet; it will...

By Kevin Carr of Film Threat (3/5) No reference
            Good, wholesome fun.

By Scott Von Doviak of Fort Worth Star-Telegram (3/5) No reference
            This premise serves mainly as an excuse to trot out every hackneyed dog joke in the book.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Guylaine Cadorette of Hollywood.com (3/5) No reference
            Perhaps Good Boy! is not meant to be analyzed, but a film targeted at children should at least ha...

By Ella Taylor of L.A. Weekly (3/5) No reference
            There are the usual impediments -- uncomprehending parents, neighborhood bullies -- but the real ...

By Bob Strauss of Los Angeles Daily News (3/5) No reference
            Bad Movie! Bad! Bad!

By Nell Minow of Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (7/1) No reference
            It's a watered-down canine version of "ET." But it has a cute kid and some even cuter dogs.

By Michael Elliott of Movie Parables (7/1) No reference
            A family film which is sweet, sentimental, and full of doggie treats to please young and old alik...

By Jami Bernard of New York Daily News (3/5) No reference
            A charming runt of a movie.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Megan Lehmann of New York Post (3/5) No reference
            ...sweet but corny...

By Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger (3/5) No reference
            Just don't be surprised if very soon you find yourself scratching at the door to be let out.

By Gene Seymour of Newsday (3/5) No reference
            You wish Good Boy! aspired to a less formulaic cleverness and sentimentality than shown here.

By Jay Boyar of Orlando Sentinel (3/5) No reference
            It's fun in a kiddie-flick sort of way.

By Steve Schneider of Orlando Weekly (3/5) No reference
            When the kid is the best thing in a dog movie, you know somebody's been barking up the wrong tree...

By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (3/5) No reference
            Light and fast.

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Andrew Wright of Portland Mercury (7/1) No reference
            This high-concept melding of E.T., Dr. Doolittle, and Roots is goofy enough to intrigue.

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (3/5) No reference
            Broderick's misplaced voice-over is just one miscalculation of many, amid the lame special effect...

By Jeffrey M. Anderson of San Francisco Examiner (3/5) No reference
            Eventually bogs down in yucky platitudes and badly-written speeches that cause most of the actors...

By Emily Russin of Seattle Times (3/5) No reference
            A winning boy- meets-pooch tale.

By Phoebe Flowers of South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/5) No reference
            Beyond any real creative aspirations, Good Boy! is a movie for dog lovers.

By Jonathan R. Perry of Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (3/5) No reference
            The barbecue sandwich I had for lunch was infinitely more memorable than the movie that preceded ...

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Richard Gehr of Village Voice (7/1) No reference
            Jim Henson Pictures happy meal.

By Michael Szymanski of Zap2it.com (7/1) No reference
            For adults, there's the yearning for the days of when your mutt was your best friend and the only...

By Christine Dolen of Miami Herald (7/1) Not Reachable
            No, this isn't the stuff of a kiddie classic like Holes. But, to quote from another movie with a ...

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (7/1) Not Reachable
            Though the youngest viewers might enjoy it, compared to the classic flicks about boys and their d...

By Carrie Rickey of Philadelphia Inquirer (3/5) Not Reachable
            It's a gentle parable of interspecies love and loyalty and a very nice time if you don't mind a l...

By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/5) Not Reachable
            Doesn't add much to the oft-told story of a boy and his dog, and it never establishes the rules o...

                         Reviews of Good Boy!
By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (7/1) Not Reachable
            Sweet sentiments about friendship, loyalty, and the magical power of pets. There are some flawed ...

Movie Distributors

Production Companies
Jim Henson Company

Movie Studios
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM)