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Director: Walt Becker; Screenwriter: David Diamond, David Weissman; Starring: John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Seth Green, Ella Bleu Travolta; Running time: 88 mins; Certificate: PG
Delayed for more than a year due to real life-tragedies - the death of star Bernie Mac and John Travolta and Kelly Preston's son Jett - Old Dogs arrives in cinemas this week hoping to lend some career uplift to its middle-aged leads. All efforts are in vain, though, because this is an excruciating and utterly witless comedy. There should be salvation in the mercifully short running time (88 minutes), but even that's not enough to make this buddy jaunt remotely tolerable. When the end credits rolled in the Soho screening venue for this film yesterday, the room emptied quicker than a school class bolting after hearing the bell to ring out the end of term!
The story involves business partners and best pals, Charlie (Travolta) and Dan (Robin Williams), who find themselves lumbered with the twins Dan fathered on a drunken weekend with Vicki (Kelly Preston). Their arrival forces the two bachelors into some outlandish hijinks with the youngsters and they eventually begin to re-evaluate their lives and embrace new relationships. It's a trajectory that mirrors Up In The Air, particularly for Travolta's motormouth womaniser, but that's where the similarities begin and end.
Old Dogs's script is as creaking as its leading men's performances. The elaborate slapstick set pieces rack up and the duo find themselves on the end of a severe spray tan, physically annihilated in a game of Ultimate Frisbee, tripping out after getting their medication mixed up and fending off snapping penguins. The indignities suffered by the cast know no bounds, but after Travolta's act of cinematic self-abuse in From Paris With Love - reprising his "Royale with Cheese" line from Pulp Fiction - it should hardly be a surprise. And it's not just Travolta and Williams who make fools of themselves in the name of 'comedy', somehow Matt Dillon and Ann-Margret have been roped in as well.
With stereotypical (bordering on racist) portrayals of the Japanese and a scene towards the end that suggests Seth Green is about to be raped by a silverback gorilla, subtlety isn't in Old Dogs's armoury. There's no reading between the lines, everything is drawn thick and clear for this lowest common denominator comedy - it's a career nadir for its two stars. Travolta's Charlie is wildly emotional with arms flailing hyperactively, while Williams's Dan is all pent up and awkward. It's perhaps an early warning for Vince Vaughn and Adam Sandler - this could be them in 15 years' time if things go badly. Both Williams and Travolta manfully press through, yet the former can't strike up any electricity with Preston (maybe worried about her hubby looking on) and the latter's major story thread happens to be with his pet dog. When Old Dogs's most compelling and resilient performance happens to come from Travolta's hairpiece, it's perhaps wise to avoid this movie at all costs.
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© Rex Features
The story involves business partners and best pals, Charlie (Travolta) and Dan (Robin Williams), who find themselves lumbered with the twins Dan fathered on a drunken weekend with Vicki (Kelly Preston). Their arrival forces the two bachelors into some outlandish hijinks with the youngsters and they eventually begin to re-evaluate their lives and embrace new relationships. It's a trajectory that mirrors Up In The Air, particularly for Travolta's motormouth womaniser, but that's where the similarities begin and end.
Old Dogs's script is as creaking as its leading men's performances. The elaborate slapstick set pieces rack up and the duo find themselves on the end of a severe spray tan, physically annihilated in a game of Ultimate Frisbee, tripping out after getting their medication mixed up and fending off snapping penguins. The indignities suffered by the cast know no bounds, but after Travolta's act of cinematic self-abuse in From Paris With Love - reprising his "Royale with Cheese" line from Pulp Fiction - it should hardly be a surprise. And it's not just Travolta and Williams who make fools of themselves in the name of 'comedy', somehow Matt Dillon and Ann-Margret have been roped in as well.
With stereotypical (bordering on racist) portrayals of the Japanese and a scene towards the end that suggests Seth Green is about to be raped by a silverback gorilla, subtlety isn't in Old Dogs's armoury. There's no reading between the lines, everything is drawn thick and clear for this lowest common denominator comedy - it's a career nadir for its two stars. Travolta's Charlie is wildly emotional with arms flailing hyperactively, while Williams's Dan is all pent up and awkward. It's perhaps an early warning for Vince Vaughn and Adam Sandler - this could be them in 15 years' time if things go badly. Both Williams and Travolta manfully press through, yet the former can't strike up any electricity with Preston (maybe worried about her hubby looking on) and the latter's major story thread happens to be with his pet dog. When Old Dogs's most compelling and resilient performance happens to come from Travolta's hairpiece, it's perhaps wise to avoid this movie at all costs.
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I dont really understand what is going on with this review, I went to see this film on the day of release and me and my girlfriend thought it was hiliarous, the story has meaning and the comedy is funny. I dont agree with this review where it states "Seth Green is about to be raped by a silverback gorilla" as this is a funny moment in the film as besides this film is a PG like they would influence that. I would recommend this film to all ages, I feel that Travolta and Williams are a great working together and really make this film.
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