The Film:

Old Dogs is pretty disjointed, there’s no other way to describe it. It wants to be so many things, yet can’t decided on which to be. It’s a big, broad, generic comedy, not unlike Wild Hogs, a film where they share the same producers. The film follows Robin Williams and John Travolta, two guys who are successful sports marketers. All seems well, until a women Williams had a one night stand with comes back to tell him, that he is a daddy. Hilarity ensues-supposedly.

The film is predictable from start to finish. Of course, the wild single guys will find it in their hearts to be dads, like their children really want them to be. Of course, the kids will get them into outrageous situations. Of course, none of this is reality. As I was thinking after the film, maybe this isn’t my comedy, meaning my generation’s type of laughs. Having Seth Green in here is probably the best part, but he appeals to that ever so key demographic: 18-35 year olds. Travolta and Williams appeal to the aging Baby Boomers. It’s an odd mix, but the film tries.

Old Dogs is completely harmless, with comedy is fine for anyone. If you seen the bits in the trailer, like the one with them at the zoo, you can get a good idea of the type of humor Old Dogs is going for. If the screenplay didn’t feel like a first draft, and polished some of the things they gloss over, maybe it could have achieved what it thinks it is. Not everyone is going to like it, because it is too broad, very sitcom-like in terms of plot developments and humor, and Robin Williams’ character quickly changes right after the big bad thing he does. Very typical, and standard issue, and plenty tiresome, if you ask me, and you are.

Old Dogs isn’t out to compete with the Judd Apatow’s or the Wes Anderson’s of the comedy world, and those looking for a quickie family fix will be please, even if the events are forgettable, and they are. The film really feels like a safe, calculated movie that was worked over my studio executives looking at the demographic score cards. If they would’ve aimed it more at the older crowd, who enjoy these actors, as well as, the sitcom style of comedy, I would be hard to discredit Old Dogs. It aims to please too many sectors of the demographic, making many 18-35 year olds, wish they just rented The Hangover again.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: As with any Disney high-def release, one can expect it to be stellar and this is no different. The film (a comedy) looks as good as it did when I saw it digitally projected. I did notice a few instances of noise in the night scenes, which really aren’t that bad, and the color tones are a bit over-done, yet it’s still a superb looking transfer, even with my minimal complaints. The DTS track is pretty powerful for a comedy. Bass is deep in certain scenes, Debney’s scores is powerful in most scenes, and everything is presented well in the sound design.

Commentary: Director Walt Brecker, the two screenwriters, and the producer sit down for a rather dull chat. They really didn’t offer up much info on the film that’s worth sitting through to get, and grew silent far-too-often for anyone to enjoy this track. It’s one to skip.

Deleted Scenes: In HD, we get an alternate ending and two cut scenes that aren’t much special.

Young Dogs Learn New Tricks: This short HD piece has the two kids interviewing Travolta and Williams. It’s cute, but hardly anything substantial.

Music Videos, BD-Live features, and a pretty funny Outtakes round out the slim helping of extras. Look for a second disc that contains the film on DVD and a third disc that has a Digital Copy of the film.

Conclusion: I’d recommend this for the older readers, but younger fans of comedy pass on it. The Blu-ray is a decent effort from a top-notch studio.

The Film: Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The strangest thing about this situation is that not only was the original cast lined up to end up being in this picture again but the top reason why it got scrapped. Even though the feature was under Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, the understanding in the community is that getting a production start on a Mouse House film will be a huge challenge if it doesn’t squarely fit the Disney family branded model (Variety).

With the word ‘bachelor’ in the title of the now-dead film, you had to assume that a little bit of bachelor party would have some what been pushing it for Disney. Then again it makes you wonder what Rich Ross really has in store for Disney.

Twilight Saga: New Moon takes over the box office once again as they reign supreme in first place over the course of a monstrous five day holiday weekend. Mainstream releases Ninja Assassin, Old Dogs and Fantastic Mr. Fox all were trumped by the supernatural teen eye candy film. The mammoth film wrangled in $42.5 Million, bringing in a whopping $230 Million domestic total, making their $50 Million budget reached several times over.

Old Dogs is doing decent, despite the huge slew of negative reviews it still manages to bring in the audience. With $16.8 Million under it’s belt, its off to a fine start with the Walt Disney Pictures feature making back it’s budget. The same goes with Ninja Assassin, making $13.1 Million within the five day weekend. The real test for these films will be the next week and weekend, whether or not they can withstand other upcoming features and hold their own. Here’s the rest of the chart for the weekend from Box Office Mojo:

Weekend Box Office (November 27-29)

1. Twilight Saga: New Moon  ($42.5 M)
2. The Blind Side  ($40.1 M)
3. 2012  ($18 M)
4. Old Dogs  ($16.8 M)
5. A Christmas Carol  ($16 M)
6. Ninja Assassin  ($13.1 M)
7. Planet 51  ($10.2 M)
8. Precious  ($7.09 M)
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox  ($7.02 M)
10. The Men Who Stare at Goats  ($1.5 M)

Bring in some dramas, because December is chock full of them right away for the most part. This coming Friday starts the very limited release of Up in the Air that will eventually expand to it’s official Christmas Day release date. The rest consist of Armored, Brothers, Everybody’s Fine and Transylmania.

Old Dogs

The film is predictable from start to finish. Of course, the wild single guys will find it in their hearts to be dads, like their children really want them to be. Of course, the kids will get them into outrageous situations. Of course, none of this is reality. As I was thinking after the film, maybe this isn’t my comedy, meaning my generation’s type of laughs. Having Seth Green in here is probably the best part, but he appeals to that ever so key demographic: 18-35 year olds. Travolta and Williams appeal to the aging Baby Boomers. It’s an odd mix, but the film tries.

Old Dogs is completely harmless, with comedy is fine for anyone. If you seen the bits in the trailer, like the one with them at the zoo, you can get a good idea of the type of humor Old Dogs is going for. If the screenplay didn’t feel like a first draft, and polished some of the things they gloss over, maybe it could have achieved what it thinks it is. Not everyone is going to like it, because it is too broad, very sitcom-like in terms of plot developments and humor, and Robin Williams’ character quickly changes right after the big bad thing he does. Very typical, and standard issue, and plenty tiresome, if you ask me, and you are.

Old Dogs isn’t out to compete with the Judd Apatow’s or the Wes Anderson’s of the comedy world, and those looking for a quickie family fix will be please, even if the events are forgettable, and they are. The film really feels like a safe, calculated movie that was worked over my studio executives looking at the demographic score cards. If they would’ve aimed it more at the older crowd, who enjoy these actors, as well as, the sitcom style of comedy, I would be hard to discredit Old Dogs. It aims to please too many sectors of the demographic, making many 18-35 year olds, wish they just rented The Hangover again.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Let’s dive into the kid friendly section as we talk about the some what mediocre weekend performance of Planet 51. The TriStar Pictures feature made around $12.6 Million despite the very positive word of mouth floating about. That does not really help the family film’s cause since it’s production budget is $60 Million and it’s coming up to Thanksgiving weekend when such family friendly flicks like Old Dogs and The Fantastic Mr. Fox are rolling right in. Precious continues to prove that the power of Oprah is still strong, opening up in even more cities and making $11 Million which is quickly starting to add a little bit of profit to it’s $10 Million dollar budget. Here’s the rest of the top ten of the weekend below thanks to Box Office Mojo:

Weekend Box Office (November 20-22)

1. Twilight Saga: New Moon  ($140.7 M)
2. The Blindside  ($34.5 M)
3. 2012  ($26.5 M)
4. Planet 51  ($12.6 M)
5. A Christmas Carol  ($12.2 M)
6. Precious  ($11 M)
7. The Men Who Stare at Goats  ($2.2 M)
8. Couples Retreat  ($1.9 M)
9. The Fourth Kind  ($1.7 M)
10. Law Abiding Citizen  ($1.6 M)

Make sure you can wobble over to the movie theater after pounding away those turkey sandwiches, because there’s a feast full of flicks coming our way. First there is the limited release of The Road with New York and Los Angeles releases of Me and Orson Welles and The Princess and the Frog. The regular releases are The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Old Dogs and Ninja Assassin.

Old Dogs Exclusive Featurette

Trailer Park | MySpace Video

Now here’s the huge slew of pictures for you to gaze at: