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Show a te ‘Dog’ remakeis alock to fetchits audience = Review prccet Moore. @) [iim Allen was borrtto The Shaggy Dog play a dog. He's been practicing since before he became a TV star — the growling, the panting, the crotch Director: Brian Robbins Cast: Tim Allen;Kristin Davis, Robert Downey Jr., Danny Glover Running time: 1 hr., 38 min. Rating: PG for some mild rude humor Location: OpensFriday in theaters seiiiee fixation, ji Disney’s remakeof “The Shaggy Dog™usesAllen to great effect ina comedy about a workaholic father and attorneywhohastobe bitten by a magical dog and becomecanine himself to find out the truth about his family (to say nothing ‘of the truth about his big court thefilm’s frequenttrips into the animaltestingfacility are unpleasant and could creep out youngerchildren. But this is a “Dog” with heart. Thatlab elementto the case). Dave Douglas (Allen) is angling to becomedistrict ati latest high-profile suing animalright plot gives the moviea little ur- Is at the behest of a big drug company — maybe just theticket. Butthe companyhas dog from a Tibetan monastery. snatched a legendarily aged JOSEPH LEDERER/Walt DisneyPictures DaveDouglas (Tim Allen) with his family, (from left, Spencer Breslin, Kristin Davis and Zena Grey) And when Dave's daughter tries to live anormal ue ele the fact that he turns into a sheepdog in “The Shaggy Dog.” | Carly (Zena Grey), an activist in training (“My father’s defending a puppy murderer!”) springs “Shaggy,” the case turns especially complicated. The “dog of ageless won- der,” whoseorigins Dave doesn’t know, turns Daveinto a beardedcollie. In his newly furry guise, Dave must save his foundering marriage, save his job, bond with his kids and foil the madscientist (Robert DowrleyJr.). Davefrequently switches back and forth, from human to dog, allowing Alien plenty of shots at doggy crudeness — leg Director Brian Robbins (“Varsity Blues”) delivers a pic- tureofcrisp, big laughs — dogs slobbering into the camera in extremeclose-up(fish-eye lens), doggie mannerisms lifting, butt-sniffing. The sub- exhibited by Allen and by a co- tler stuff is funnier, and Allen makeshis growling matchesin the court a hoot. star who is even better at dog impersonating than he is. The specialeffects are obviously digital, anda lot of the movieis Allen talking to himself,inside his dog-body — and he doesn’t have much funnyto say. Therealso are problems with pacing and tone. Robbins wastesa lot of time setting up this magical dog’s origins, complete with a jackbooted black helicopter dognap team, and gency and somerighteous pathos.It's downright subversive, at times.It presents a district attorney in the pocketof an evil multinational corporation, animal rights activists who are not just “wackos” andidealistic kids who can tell the difference between good andevil, even whenDadcan't. Allenis almost as engaging as original “Shaggy Dog” star Fred MacMurray.And betweenthis film and “Eight Below,” one thing should be obvi- ous about the House of Mouse. Disney never goes far wrong whenit unleashes a dog. Depplendsspark to unpleasant‘Libertine’ Robert W.Butler THE KANSAS CITY STAR, steady diet of sweetness andlight soon grows wearisome. Turns out that a life of constant debauchery is noless boring. As a gritty exploration of Restoration Englandand as an -8 @ Daily Herald, Thursday, March 9, 2006 ey acting showcasefor the everastounding Johnny Depp, Lau- rence Dunmore'’s “TheLibertine”is of considerableinterest. But as a dramatic enterprise it’s stillborn. Not to mention depressing in the extreme. contempt of decency and order,a total disregard to every moral, and resolute denial of every religious rvation.” Shot in grainy high-def video with a muted pallet that ren- ders every sky gray and blood a deeppurple, “The Libertine’ follows Wilmot’s brieflife as he.is repeatedly banished and reinstated by King Charles II (John Malkovich). Although Charles believes Wilmot to be brilliant writer, he draws the line at open displays of contemptfor the Royal Personage, staging of a unapologetically son, “drunkengaiety and gross try with his wife (Rosamund Pike), a wealthy young woman AREA EAE DS BBid @ TheLibertine Director: Laurence Dunmore Cast: Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton, John Malkovich, RosamundPike Running time:1 hr. 55 min. Rating: forstrongsexuality, nudity, violence and language Location: OpensFriday in select cities not to mention Wilmot’s public The movie begins with Depp, as the notoriously wicked John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, staring directly into the camera, wineglassin hand, and informing us that we're not much going to like him andthat, frankly, that’s just fine with him. Today, Wilmot is known both as a majorBritish poet andfor, in the words of Samuel Johnscrualty vean avowed Review pornographic play. whom he literally kidnapped. Wilmot takes an unpromis-* ing youngactress, Elizabeth Atonepointhe lives for months as a fugitive from the Barry (Samantha Morton), and like Henry Higgins molds her into the greatest thespian of hertime. Every now andthen he burns out on the Londonsocial life and winds upbackin the coun- toareebes King’s justice, selling his dubious medical services to gullible peasants. Andfinally he does one honorablething, using his rhetorical skills to convince Parliament not to pass bill that would alter the monarchy’srules of succession. Bythis time, though, the 33- PETER MOUNTAIN/Weinstein Company Samantha Morton and Johnny Deppstarin “The Libertine.” year-old Wilmot is dying,his liver ravaged by drink and his face a bloody mass ofsyphilitic sores. “The Libertine” isn't satisfying emotionally,it does work as a character study of a man who seemed incapable of pleasure Happytimes. Stephen Jeffreys’s screen- no matter how much booze or sex he had. play (based onhis stage play) effectively captures the intellectual arrogance and moral vacuum thatafflicted much of Restoration society. And while * And let’s not overlook this: Jeffreys and Depp makelistening to the English ea pleasure. Oneof the few that “The Libertine” offers. te Jissey Sa oy Xs |