Holly
03-13-2006, 04:18 PM
Ah, if some things could just be kept simple.
That was much of the charm of the early Disney classics, the live-action efforts as well as the animated films. That's why a tale like “The Shaggy Dog” remains so magical in its original form; complicate it too much in an update, and it risks being less appealing.
Luckily, the new version has Tim Allen as the human who's transformed into a canine. He is so physically facile, he makes the idea that he would get down on all fours to chase a cat hilariously believable. The update actually merges “The Shaggy Dog” and an earlier sequel, “The Shaggy D.A.,” since Allen's character is a prosecutor who suffers pretty much the same fate Peter Parker did before he became Spider-Man: He gets bitten by a mutant creature, a dog in this case (of course), and that's where his fun ends and ours begins.
By having Allen to carry the heaviest load humor-wise, the makers of the new “Shaggy Dog” can be a bit more free in casting the other major roles, and they've been smart in bringing in Kristin Davis as Allen's wife. The “Sex and the City” veteran does a perplexed look as well as any actress can these days, and she gets to use it a lot as she tries to explain her husband's strange behavior ... which even she doesn't “get.”
Danny Glover also gets to furrow his brow considerably as Allen's boss, and Robert Downey Jr. keeps it just this side of madness as he plays the mad scientist who eventually takes a very direct role in Allen's situation. It's also fun to see Jane Curtin, who's been off the radar for a while, as a no-nonsense judge.
In its 1959 incarnation starring Tommy Kirk and Fred MacMurray, “The Shaggy Dog” has an innocence it might be impossible to recapture more than 45 years later. Having Tim Allen on board now certainly doesn't hurt, and his antics ultimately go a long way in keeping the revision of the story out of the doghouse.
(Rated PG)
That was much of the charm of the early Disney classics, the live-action efforts as well as the animated films. That's why a tale like “The Shaggy Dog” remains so magical in its original form; complicate it too much in an update, and it risks being less appealing.
Luckily, the new version has Tim Allen as the human who's transformed into a canine. He is so physically facile, he makes the idea that he would get down on all fours to chase a cat hilariously believable. The update actually merges “The Shaggy Dog” and an earlier sequel, “The Shaggy D.A.,” since Allen's character is a prosecutor who suffers pretty much the same fate Peter Parker did before he became Spider-Man: He gets bitten by a mutant creature, a dog in this case (of course), and that's where his fun ends and ours begins.
By having Allen to carry the heaviest load humor-wise, the makers of the new “Shaggy Dog” can be a bit more free in casting the other major roles, and they've been smart in bringing in Kristin Davis as Allen's wife. The “Sex and the City” veteran does a perplexed look as well as any actress can these days, and she gets to use it a lot as she tries to explain her husband's strange behavior ... which even she doesn't “get.”
Danny Glover also gets to furrow his brow considerably as Allen's boss, and Robert Downey Jr. keeps it just this side of madness as he plays the mad scientist who eventually takes a very direct role in Allen's situation. It's also fun to see Jane Curtin, who's been off the radar for a while, as a no-nonsense judge.
In its 1959 incarnation starring Tommy Kirk and Fred MacMurray, “The Shaggy Dog” has an innocence it might be impossible to recapture more than 45 years later. Having Tim Allen on board now certainly doesn't hurt, and his antics ultimately go a long way in keeping the revision of the story out of the doghouse.
(Rated PG)