Hotel For Dogs
3.5 Lloyd’s – Family-Friendly
PG for brief mild thematic elements, language and some crude humor.
Based on the book by Lois Duncan Hotel For Dogs, stars Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle. This family comedy adventure shows how far love and imagination can take you. After 3 years and 5 foster homes of hiding their dog, 16 year old Andi and her younger brother Bruce, decide it’s time to find a new home for Friday. When they stumble upon an abandoned hotel, they decide to use Bruce’s talents as a mechanical genius to transform it into a dog-paradise for Friday, and eventually, all of Friday’s friends.
Hotel For Dogs clocks in at 1 hour 40 minutes. Making it the perfect length to keep both kids and their parents entertained during this wonderful family-friendly movie.
A Daring Move For Kids & Dogs
Considering the stars of this show are basically a group of kids, and a whole lot of dogs, we must applaud the filmmakers for picking a great cast. The only adult receiving as much screen time as the kids is Don Cheadle. With that in mind, Hotel For Dogs could have been a directing, and an acting disaster. But, I’m sure Nancy Drew star Emma Roberts helped hold the team together. Roberts has matured in her acting ability. While she was great as Nancy Drew she at times came off as an awkward teenager. In Hotel For Dogs the usual teen awkwardness is gone. As a result, her character as the 16 year old who’s supposed to be the adult and keep her and her brother together, is very believable.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen simply a fun movie for the family.
Hotel For Dogs falls firmly into the fun-family-friendly category. While we see teens dealing with some very real issues, we also discover them having fun along the way. Not only are they having fun, but there’s enough laugh out loud factor here with the antics of the dogs to keep the whole family entertained. Aside from teen issues, the movie also makes a statement about family, and the struggles of a social worker trying to place kids. While we know the foster care system is flawed, Hotel For Dogs doesn’t scream political agenda. Instead, in a very subtle way, Don Cheadle’s character points out the challenges faced by kids in the system, and the workers trying to place them into homes.
All in all not only is Hotel for Dogs family-friendly, it’s really a movie all about family. While it’s hinted at, we really don’t know what happened to Andi and Bruce’s parents. They’re simply no longer in the picture. It’s hinted at that they died, but that’s all we know. As a result of tragedy, we find our two young stars faced with trying to stay together as a family, and find a family at the same time. When it seems no family will ever be found, the pair, along with a few of their friends, find their own family. Not only do they find a family, but they pull together a group of misfit dogs, also left behind and alone in the world, and make them into a family.
Hotel For Dogs also presents the message of being proud of who you are, and where you come from. Peer pressure in the world today is immense for kids. Often they try to be something, and someone else, all in an effort to fit in. But, in the end, if people can’t take you for who you are, then they’re really not friends at all. Andi discovers this important lesson when she comes face to face with the fact that it’s really all about find Home Sweet Home, wherever that might be. Sooner or later, when you try to be something you’re not, the truth of your situation will catch up with you. Those who are true friends will always stand by your side.
Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus
Dr. Rus has 30+ years experience in the field of communication. He takes this experience, and his passion to encourage others to positively effect their environment, when providing insight and movie reviews. 
