The Shaggy Dog
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: March 10, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
43
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
13
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
As good as family entertainment gets. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeLouise Kennedy
What The Shaggy Dog feels like, more than anything, is an old-fashioned Disney movie. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The star (Allen), unleashed, is so energetic in his approximation of a bearded collie -- his nose sniffing the air, his whole being (which toggles between human and canine form) overcome by the need to fetch any stick thrown -- that his slobbery charm carries the picture. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLuke Sader
A fast-moving Walt Disney Co. comedy that manages to sail past many of the cliches usually found in this genre while throwing together a wild story line more apt for a new millennium. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNeil Genzlinger
Ms. Curtin is one of several examples of quirky casting that make this Shaggy Dog much more fun than it might have been. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
May not make you howl, but it does offer a few bona fide belly laughs. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
For a kids' picture this is relatively funny. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
There are many delightful movie techniques out there available for making animals appear to speak, so it's too bad The Shaggy Dog doesn't use any of them. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The extraordinary canine performances in Shaggy Dog and "Eight Below" lead me to wonder whether Disney could dispense with two-legged creatures altogether, until further notice. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
In movies as in life, superior technology doesn't necessarily trump humor, magic or really shaggy dogs. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
This is precisely the type of moviegoing experience engineered for those who still get a laugh when the Baha Men hit "Who Let the Dogs Out?" accompanies a doggie mayhem montage. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
The unruly pack of subplots make The Shaggy Dog much more convoluted than it needs to be. But Allen's physical comedy as man-becoming-dog, and his non-stop monologue as man-dog, are definitely worth a trip to the matinee. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
In this serviceable remake of the fondly remembered 1959 Disney comedy (which starred Fred MacMurray), an impressively dexterous Tim Allen plays Dave Douglas. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
There are precious few surprises here, but parents will find director Robbins' breezy remake a painless affair and, judging by the yowls of laughter from the peanut gallery at the screening I attended, the kids will be barking all the way home. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It says something for Robert Downey Jr. that in a movie where a man becomes a dog, Downey creates the weirdest character. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Strictly for the very young who will find giggles in the anthropomorphic mash-ups and won't be too distracted by the predictably mawkish sitcom plot. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Crafting this crude, noisy remake of Disney's first live-action comedy required the labor of no fewer than five screenwriters. Read full review
40
Village VoiceRob Nelson
My eight-year-old nephew sat nearly silent throughout, so when he says he had fun, he must be talking about the treats. Read full review
40
VarietyJustin Chang
This fur-fetched tale is bearable family viewing. Read full review
38
PremiereJessica Letkemann
Feels like little more than a stale rehash with a promising cast whose talents haven't been tapped. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Okay, so when does the fun start? Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
As a comic actor, Allen's palette is limited to varying degrees of beige. He is not only boring, he's obnoxious and narcissistic. Where's the ASPCA -- the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Audiences -- when you need 'em? Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The Shaggy Dog is paint, or more appropriately here, pant by the numbers. It also manages a one-two punch -- it will upset small children and bore their parents. There's just no other way to say this: Disney, that movie of yours is a dog.
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
Who let this dog out? Read full review
25
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The movie is just this side of terrible. It misses all the charm and fun of the original. Allen's mugging is incorrigibly unfunny. Read full review
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