Old Dogs better on small screen

Thursday, March 11, 2010
Robin Williams and John Travolta star in Disney's "Old Dogs," available now on DVD. (Courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment)

When I saw "Old Dogs" in the theater late last year, I was a little less than impressed. After watching it again for its DVD release, I found myself softening to the flick and its stars Robin Williams and John Travolta.

For those of you who didn't ready my review of the film, and shame on you if you haven't, it just never added up to anything special.

If follows Dan (Williams), who after getting a divorce, finds himself quickly married in an impromptu ceremony during a wild weekend in Miami thanks to best bud Charlie (Travolta). The union is quickly annulled, but flash forward seven year later and Vicki (Kelly Preston) shows up with fraternal twins Zach (Conner Rayburn) and Emily (Ella Bleu Travolta).

To make matters worse, Vicki has to go to jail for two weeks because of political activism tactics and, through a series of events, must rely on Dan to take care of his children.

The rest of the film is Dan's, along with Charlie's help, attempt to make it through and survive until Vicki gets out of jail. But along the way he finds that being a dad just might suit him in the end, even swooping in to save the day at the kids' birthday party.

The DVD presentation doesn't make the forced comedy any better, but I found myself more amused this time around. Still the undisputed king of this movie is Justin Long. Long is in the movie for only a few minutes, but his time on screen is hilarious. He pulls off his off-centered character with ease.

I still had a lot of the same beefs I did when watching it in theaters, but some of the gags Williams and Travolta pulled worked better on the small screen.

As for what the DVD offers, there are some deleted scenes, a blooper reel and an audio commentary with the director, producer Andrew Panay and writers David Diamond and David Weissman.

The Blu-ray version also had the 'Every Little Step' music video featuring John and Ella Bleu Travolta. The DVD and Blu-Ray combo pack has two extra goodies 'You've Been a Friend to Me' video by Bryan Adams and 'Young Dogs Learn Old Tricks'.

Final Cut: While the problems of the film are still apparent, I found the movie to be much more enjoyable. The cuteness factor is still in hyperdrive, but there's a little more substance than previous thought.

3 out of 5 stars

Old Dogs

Starring: Robin Williams, John Travolta, Seth Green, Kelly Preston, Ella Bleu Travolta, Conner Rayburn, Rita Wilson

Director: Walt Becker

Writer: David Diamond, David Weissman

MPAA Rating: PG for some mild humor

Runtime: 88 min.

Available now on Disney DVD and Blu-ray

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