Firehouse Dog
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| Firehouse Dog | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Firehouse Dog |
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| Directed by | Todd Holland |
| Produced by | Michael J. Maschio |
| Written by | Claire-Dee Lim Mike Werb Michael Colleary |
| Starring | Josh Hutcherson Bruce Greenwood Dash Mihok Steven Culp Bill Nunn |
| Music by | Jeff Cardoni |
| Cinematography | Victory Hammer |
| Editing by | Scott J. Wallace |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | April 4, 2007 |
| Running time | 111 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Firehouse Dog is an American family film produced by Regency Enterprises and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Todd Holland, it stars Josh Hutcherson, Bruce Greenwood, Dash Mihok, Steven Culp and Bill Nunn. It was released April 4, 2007, in the U.S.
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[edit] Plot
The film starts in the tourbus of celebrity dog Rexxxx. He is about to film a secret agent skydiving movie scene. Next he is seen on the plane. A storm brews and lightning hits the plane, knocking Rexxxx out of it. He lands in a tomato truck and soon meets Shane, who is currently ditching science class. As Shane is taken to the fire station by his two friends and paramedics, Rexxxx stays in the basement of a textile building. Shane confronts his dad, the station captain, Captain Connor Fahey, who is currently dealing with a crisis. His station, engine 55, also known as Dogpatch, is notoriously late when dispatching and responding to fires. The city manager intends on closing the station down. As the siren blares for yet another fire, the Dogpatch crew, engine 55, arrive last at the scene due to a faulty fire engine. Dogpatch is in competition against Fire station Greenpoint who is always first to dispatch and is led by Jesse Presley. Engine 55 arrives at the fire with Shane who spots Rexxxx, or as he calls him, "The Dog From Hell", on the roof of the burning building. Rex jumps from the roof onto a makeshift trampoline held by the firefighters. Dogpatch temporarily takes the dog in while Capt. Fahey orders Shane to put up "found dog" fliers. The dog, which the station calls "Dewey" - his collar reads "Dew", the name of the film he was making at the time of his disappearance - seems to have a special bond with the people of Dogpatch. Soon, Dogpatch is at its final week before closing and more fires occur, suspected to be arson. Dewey has a special talent for rescuing people trapped in fires.
In the meantime, Shane asks one of Dogpatch's firefighters why Dogpatch is closing. He tells Shane that all the houses and buildings of the dying town have either been sold or burnt. Months earlier, his uncle and Captain of dogpatch, Mark Fahey, had gotten killed in the saw mill fire which was suspected to be arson. Shane takes the sawmill mystery upon himself and examines the evidence. One of the photos is of a "BOUTINE" wrist watch, which is later revealed to be that which had been used to start the sawmill fire.
After heroically rescuing Jesse Presley of Greenpoint, in a tunnel fire, Dewey makes his first public debut as the Dogpatch mascot. The mayor decides upon keeping Dogpatch open and asks Shane to appear with Dewey at the firefighter's gala. Shane decides to show the audience what Dewey can do. He asks the city manager to give Shane his wrist watch, which Connor Fahey hides in the potted plant nearby. Shane asks Dewey to find the watch, relying on its owner's scent, and return it to him. Instead Dewey finds his past owner Trey who had desperately searched for him all that time. After Dewey is reunited with his owner, Shane disheartedly returns to the gala and gives the watch back to the city manager. He notices that it says "BOUTINE" on it. After following the city manager into the kitchen, he hears him plotting with another firefighter to burn their next target. Shane rushes to the station to reach his dad who, as he later finds out, is currently responding to a harbor fire on a garbage barge. Dewey, who hears the sirens, jumps out of the hotel he and Trey are staying at. Dewey rushes to the fire and helps to put it out. Meanwhile, Jesse looks at his dad's city map which displays all of the zones of buildings in the city that have either been burned or sold. To his surprise, Dogpatch is the only building left. After several failed attempts to reach his dad, he contacts JJ, Captain Presley's daughter. He tells her of the scheme and they realize that the fire on the garbage barge at the harbor was a decoy to occupy all engines and that the real target is Dogpatch.
Shane hears something upstairs and realizes that the city manager, now revealed to be the arsonist, is upstairs setting fire to the station. At the harbor, Dewey senses something going on at the station. He dashes all the way to Dogpatch and sees the city manager, Collin. He growls and threatens Collin who locks himself in a phone booth. Dewey spots Shane and wakes him up. Shane frantically tries to escape, but the only exit left is the kitchen. He gets to the kitchen but the door is sealed shut. Finally, with his father's help, he manages to break through. Collin's scam is revealed and the Dogpatch crew members each receive a medal of honor. They also renovate the station and receive a dreamed-of 900 hp. Chrysler engine for their firetruck. Trey reclaims Dewey and realizes that Dewey is destined to be a firehouse dog. He give him back to Shane and the film ends.
[edit] Reception
Firehouse Dog garnered 31% positive reviews on the film-critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, and a 45/100 on MetaCritic. Justin Chang of Variety called it, "A likable but ungainly mutt of a movie".[1]. Ty Burr in The Boston Globe found "the human scenes in Firehouse Dog are perfectly acceptable on the level of a heartwarming family B-movie" but "that dog — or, rather, that digitally enhanced replicant — is just plain creepy".[2] While Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer called it "a touching, family-friendly entertainment about a dog and his boy",[3] Chris Kaltenbach of The Baltimore Sun felt it was "too busy being inspirational and cuddly to be funny or pointed" and "plays out as though its plot was stuck in molasses".[4] Frank Lovece of Film Journal International capped his review by suggesting that, "Firehouse Dog should be put to sleep before it can do the same to audiences".[5]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Variety (posted April 3, 2007): Review by Justin Change
- ^ The Boston Globe (April 4, 2007): "'Firehouse Dog' needs some real warmth" (review by Ty Burr)
- ^ The Philadelphia Inquirer (April 4, 2007): "From dog star to star of a boy's life" (review by Carrie Rickey)
- ^ The Baltimore Sun (April 4, 2007): "'Dog': smoke, no fire and no new tricks" (review by Chris Kaltenbach)
- ^ Film Journal International (posted April 4, 2007): Review by Frank Lovece
