Hotel for Dogs
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: January 16, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
It's no great shakes as a film, but its combination of mild comedy, slapstick, pathos, many photogenic canines and a positive message will make it irresistible to families. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
A lively, funny, imaginative film that should appeal to kids and their pet-loving parents. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
Kids will be as enthralled by this film as you were by the live-action Disney movies of the '70s. It doesn't get any sweeter than a roomful of mattresses with kids and dogs jumping on them. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
A bright, funny family movie that gets everything right, from story to production design to cast (both human and canine). Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
What it is packed with is lots of sneaking around, very cool gadgets, excellent stunts and some clever kids. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
The movie's political and moral points -- and theme about creating family however you can find it -- elevate it above the average kids movie. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A sweet, innocent family movie about stray dogs that seem as well-trained as Olympic champions. Friday, the Jack Russell terrier who's the leader of the pack, does more acting than most of the humans, and doesn't even get billing. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Not bad, not great, a little less pushy and grating than the usual. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Even the youngest viewers, not to mention their parents, will appreciate the buffoonish villainy of the dogcatchers (still useful villains more than half a century after "Lady and the Tramp"), and the movie's nice anti-kill shelter message is as it should be. Read full review
60
Film ThreatRory L. Aronsky
What’s most surprising in Hotel for Dogs, is Don Cheadle co-starring as Bernie. Read full review
60
VarietyJohn Anderson
Ultimately warm and furry, with a wet nose buried in gross receipts. Read full review
60
Washington PostJohn Anderson
On the upside, the movie could do something really positive for the cause of homeless pets: If audiences respond the way they should, dog shelters could be emptied in a week. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
What does a film called Hotel For Dogs need in order to avoid being a watch-checker for grown-ups? Whatever it is, Hotel For Dogs doesn't have it. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Hotel for Dogs is a decent family film, sure to please animal-loving kids and their parents alike. Well-acted, the movie also looks good and is stocked with lots of goofy gadgetry. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
It's a pretty lazy film in the creativity department save for the dogs. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
At its best, the movie is a catalog of doggy stunts. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Between the dogged efforts of the kids to save strays and the antics of the dogs, it's hard to resist this lively, though predictable, family movie. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Hotel for Dogs is agreeable Saturday afternoon multiplex piffle - friendly, formulaic, completely harmless. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
It's sad to see a promising fantasy turn into yet another industrial-scale fantasy-delivery system that beats up on its audience with mindless intensity and undercuts its own humanity -- and caninity -- in the process. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Although you wouldn't want an entire movie devoted to such shenanigans, Hotel for Dogs isn't half as zany as it might have been. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyAdam Markovitz
There are still cuddly pups and piddle jokes aplenty. Read full review
40
EmpireAnna Smith
Inventive and endearing in places but ultimately an unsatisfying mix of slow plotting and superficial characterisation. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Slobbery wet kiss of a family movie. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Look, I love dogs. But this film tried my patience almost beyond endurance. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
It's like flipping through five years of dog calendars. Read full review
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