Dog Days is a new theatrical flick that will remind anyone of a Gary Marshall holiday movie like Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Day, and Mother’s Day. That’s neither a compliment nor a recommendation but you know (if you’ve ever seen those movies) if this is the kind of flick you’d like.
Not based on a holiday but around general themes of dogs, the movie follows four or five different, semi-connected stories about human relationships. Romances, friendships, lost dogs, adopted dogs, etc. Not all the stories hit and the film is an unnecessarily long two hours. I found the majority of it pretty tedious but, dammit, some of the stories ultimately landed so its not a complete disaster.
The film has a decent enough and likable cast. Nina Dobrev, Vanessa Hudgens, Eva Longoria, Adam Pally, Fin Wolfhard, Rob Cordry, and others appear in different story arcs. Dobrev and Hudgens make charming romantic comedy actors and Eva Longoria and Rob Cordry are sweet as adoptive parents. I dunno… good actors in mediocre-to-decent storylines… it should have been shorter though.
Overall, not a terrible movie but I can’t really recommend it unless you really love these ensemble comedies. And dogs. Though oddly the dogs are really just props – none of them have much personality (and I like dogs). And, ermmmm…. not sure what else to say. Not much else worth saying.
Score: 68