Multiply the melodrama of “Ladder 49” and “Backdraft” in dog years, and you’ve got “Firehouse Dog,” a family film chock-full of narrow escapes and burning buildings.
It’s about a famous canine movie star called Rex who gets lost in a parachuting accident – a wacky sequence that indicates the movie’s sense of humor. Rex lands in the back of a tomato truck, which saves his life but causes a devastating blow to his vanity (he loses his doggie toupee, for one thing).
Rex is found and adopted by a firehouse. More specifically, by a boy (Josh Hutcherson) whose dad (Bruce Greenwood, from “Thirteen Days”) is captain at the station.
Rex already knows plenty of tricks, so he’s got a leg up (so to speak) when it comes to helping out on a three-alarm blaze. He even knows how to ride a skateboard, which endears him to his young new owner.
As I’ve said countless times, if there’s one thing today’s audience craves, it’s a skateboarding dog. Rex delivers on that score, while also saving a woman trapped in a fire and bringing together a grieving, estranged father and son.
All the stuff Lassie used to do, in short. Rex is played by an Irish terrier, for those who care about that kind of thing, or, more precisely, by a team of Irish terriers, each of whom specializes in one skill or another. Like skateboarding.
“Firehouse Dog” is very slickly made, and veteran TV director Todd Holland (a regular with “The Larry Sanders Show” and “Malcolm in the Middle”) brings just enough attitude to the story to ensure adults might enjoy it as much as kids.
In the meantime, it wouldn’t be a dog movie without a serious amount of heartstring-tugging, and “Firehouse Dog” delivers on that score, too. And did I mention there’s a firebug loose in the city, a situation that will directly threaten our heroes, human and canine alike?
This movie’s just a bit overloaded, as you can see. Still, it’s better to have a movie that tries too hard than a movie that cynically mails it in, so give this one some credit. And extra credit for somehow avoiding the most obvious kind of fire-hydrant jokes.
“Firehouse Dog”
Attitude: A doggie movie star is unknowingly adopted by a firehouse, where he gets into a series of death-defying situations. This movie is very slickly made, but at least the filmmakers tried to do too much rather than too little, and there’s enough attitude to make it OK for adults to enjoy.
Rated: PG rating is for subject matter.
Now showing: Alderwood Mall, Everett, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Mountlake, Woodinville, Blue Fox Drive-In, Cascade Mall
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