Max (Ludacris) and Frank (Will Arnett) in Show Dogs.Adrian Rogers/Entertainment One
- Show Dogs
- Written by: Max Botkin, Marc Hyman
- Directed by: Raja Gosnell
- Starring: Will Arnett, Natasha Lyonne, voice of Chris (Ludacris) Bridges
- Classification: G; 90 minutes
Though it is one of pop culture’s most enduring questions, “Who let the dogs out?” is less important a mystery as “Why let the dogs out?” Starring Will Arnett as an FBI agent who forms an uneasy partnership with a salty Rottweiler who prefers to take bites out of crime on his own, Show Dogs is one more semi-adorable family comedy with a canine lead. The plot involves an animal-smuggling ring (the baby panda is so cute I can’t even …) and a snooty show-dog showdown. We watch as a loner – lone-woof? – police pooch gradually learns to accept the love, help and companionship of others. It’s a good message for the kids, from a film that also reinforces a less commendable life lesson: That the bad guys are the ones with the foreign accents. Grown-ups will find it painful to watch a clearly embarrassed Arnett go through the motions, muttering his lines as he internally wonders why he never became the next Kevin Costner.
Brad Wheeler