In the utterly unremarkable "Firehouse Dog," a pampered movie star pooch named Rexxx falls out of an airplane and into the lap of a second-rate fire station where he is immediately adopted as the department's mascot. With his natural talent for search-and-rescue missions, Rexxx soon insinuates his way into the hearts and affections of all, including the young, slightly troubled son (Josh Hutcherson) of the station's chief (Bruce Greenwood).
Despite all its obvious good intentions, I can scarcely imagine anyone but the tiniest tots in the audience being either intrigued or inspired by this film. Apart from the slight difference that the Timmy-fallen-down-a-well predicament has been replaced by a Shane-trapped-in-a-burning-firehouse sequence, this is a thoroughly conventional "a boy and his dog" tale in which neither the boy nor the dog is really all that appealing. In fact, Rexxx is so un-cute and so un-cuddly that it's hard to believe that he could ever be a true canine superstar sensation in the real world.
As for the script, it consists mainly of feeble jokes, broad slapstick and obvious sentimentality ladled out in roughly equal measure. There are a few touching father-and-son moments along the way, but this is otherwise a very long, very uninspired "kid flick." There's nothing overtly wrong with either the values or the morals conveyed by the movie - unless, that is, one considers subjecting innocent and unsuspecting children to bad film-making to be, in and of itself, immoral.
Despite all its obvious good intentions, I can scarcely imagine anyone but the tiniest tots in the audience being either intrigued or inspired by this film. Apart from the slight difference that the Timmy-fallen-down-a-well predicament has been replaced by a Shane-trapped-in-a-burning-firehouse sequence, this is a thoroughly conventional "a boy and his dog" tale in which neither the boy nor the dog is really all that appealing. In fact, Rexxx is so un-cute and so un-cuddly that it's hard to believe that he could ever be a true canine superstar sensation in the real world.
As for the script, it consists mainly of feeble jokes, broad slapstick and obvious sentimentality ladled out in roughly equal measure. There are a few touching father-and-son moments along the way, but this is otherwise a very long, very uninspired "kid flick." There's nothing overtly wrong with either the values or the morals conveyed by the movie - unless, that is, one considers subjecting innocent and unsuspecting children to bad film-making to be, in and of itself, immoral.