Old Dogs

This Thanksgiving there were not that many options for films since many of them released were either R rated or on limited release. However, there was one flick that was released that didn't include depression("The Road") or blood everywhere("Ninja Assassin") and that was the John Travolta/Robin Williams comedy, "Old Dogs."
In this film, we meet Dan(Williams) and Charlie(Travolta) who have been lifelong best friends and successful business partners. We are quickly told the story of how, after Dan's divorce, Charlie takes Dan to "live the life." During this "living the life" moment Dan meets a girl named Vicki(Kelly Preston) and they have a one night stand. After that, they leave each other and Dan has had his second divorce in two weeks(you should already be picking up that this isn't a "family" film as it was marketed).
Seven years later, the two men are about to make the most important deal of their life and just when it's about to happen...Vicki is back in town. But, oh no, Vicki doesn't only say "nice to see you" but drops two surprise bombs on him. Bomb number one is that she is going to jail for two weeks. Bomb number two is that Dan has two kids and he needs to take care of them while she's in jail (this decision comes after Dan injures the babysitter). So now Dan, along with his pal Charlie, have to work together to help take care of the two kids because as Charlie says to Dan , " You're allergic to anything under four feet."
Sadly this film has more bad elements then good so to make this easier I'll get all of the bad out of the way. As you might have told yourself already, the films plot is completely unbelievable and just random. Let me quickly restate the plot in a different way: A guy and girl have one night together, leave for seven years, meet again, discus they have kids, and eventually the girl leaves her kids with basically a total stranger. Also, Dan is already deeply in love with Vicki when he hasn't seen her in forever and offers to take kids when he knows full well that he can't raise them. Does this sound like it could really happen? Only in cinema my friends.
The other thing with the plot is that it is unoriginal. This type of film is mostly seen in romantic comedies. The characters(in this case Dan and Vicki with her kids) meet, They don't know/trust each other at first but soon they adore each other. This has been seen countless times and is also unbelievable. No mother would leave her children with a stranger(unless they were on the crazy side).
"Old Dogs" is just below 90 minutes and today that is considered a short film. What makes this weird is that it seems as if they try to cram everything into the 90 minutes. The actors deliver their lines quickly, the scenes go by quickly, the events and actors themselves literally move quickly and it just comes across as weird. It was apparent that the editing is sloppy when you see the camera flashing back and forth several times in ten seconds of film.
Now I believe their is only one thing that makes this film a little enjoyable. "Old Dogs" is marketed as a comedy and it is indeed pretty funny. The main thing in this film is slapstick comedy. People getting hit, injured, and ran into is the kind of humor that "Old Dogs" relies on. Some of the lines are funny, events that took place are humorous, and pretty much the whole film kept me laughing and it keeps the film from being downright horrible.
"Old Dogs" is just not the most entertaining film that has been released this year. OK script, OK acting, bad plot, bad pacing, and finally good comedy. Sadly you saw that there was only one "good" element in the film and that's why "Old Dogs" gets a one and a half stars out of four.
"Old Dogs" had a running time of 88 minutes and is rated PG for some mild rude humor.