Old Dogs
Old Dogs is a very old film in movie years as it features Bernie Mac in a minor role. We’ve lamented his untimely passing since August of 2008 but after viewing this Disney Thanksgiving turkey it’s not hard to see why it sat on the shelf for so long. A beefy Robin Williams who leaves not doubt as to why he required heart surgery earlier this year stars as Dan, a divorcee and the ying to the yang of Charlie (John Travolta). These two fifty-somethings are truly BFF’s being inseparable since grade school. Now New York advertising tycoons they are on the verge of inking the most lucrative deal of their careers along with new protégé Ralph White (Seth Green) when Dan discovers he’s the father of six year old twins from a Charlie engineered liaison with Vicki (Travolta’s real life wife Kelly Preston). Not only that but circumstances insist that for two of their most critical business weeks the two men, neither of whom have any child rearing experience, are stuck with the twins Zach (Conner Rayburn) and Emily (Ella Bleu Travolta). Unlike so many of the truly entertaining family films Disney has produced lately this is a throwback to offerings from Walt’s days featuring lame setups and lukewarm laughs. New tricks from the old dogs are better.