Talking canines shine in fluffy fun
Funnyman Will Arnett gets upstaged by a streetwise canine in the amusing, featherweight “Show Dogs.” Think “Best in Show” meets “Miss Congeniality” — but with talking animals.
After traffickers kidnap baby panda Ling Li, FBI agent Frank (Arnett, in appealing leading-man mode) is paired with an imposing NYPD Rottweiler, Max (well-voiced by Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), to infiltrate a Las Vegas dog show, where Ling Li is to be sold.
But for full access, Max must pose as a competitor, with the irascible Rottie undergoing a show dog crash course courtesy of exchampion Philippe (Stanley Tucci), and a human FBI special canine consultant (Natasha Lyonne).
Between Max’s street smarts and some only-inthe-movies contrivances, nominal odd couple Frank and Max get a serious, er, leg up on their mission to rescue Ling Li.
The action, kept moving apace by director Raja Gosnell, includes an array of prize pooches (voiced by Jordin Sparks, Alan Cumming, RuPaul and others) doing — and saying — the darnedest CGI-rendered things, mild bits of mayhem and Vegas atmospherics.
It all plays out a bit randomly, but the leapfrogged plot points, thin characters and blunt messaging in Max Botkin and Marc Hyman’sscript prove forgivable, given how this nicely modulated film largely avoids the hyperaggressive jokiness and desperate stabs at relevance that often plague kidpics. “Show Dogs.” Rated: PG, for suggestive and rude humor, language and some action. Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes. Playing: In general release.