Firehouse Dog
Encyclopedia
Firehouse Dog is a 2007 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.
hits it, knocking Rexxx out. He lands in a truck
full of tomato
es and ends up as a stray on the streets, nearly being captured by a dogcatcher. He soon meets a boy named Shane Fahey (Josh Hutcherson
), who is ditching his science class. Because Rexxx helps to capture truant Shane, the boy hates Rexx and calls him "ugly stinking mutt," and "The Mutt from Hell". As Shane is taken to the fire station by his two friends and firefighters, Rexx stays in the basement of a textile building. Shane confronts his dad, the station captain, Captain Connor Fahey (played by Bruce Greenwood
), who is currently dealing with a crisis. His station, engine 55, also known as Dogpatch, is notoriously late when dispatching and responding to fires, leading to bad publicity.
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 Jessie Presley. Engine 55 arrives at the fire with Shane who spots Rexxx, on the roof of the burning building. Rexxx jumps from the roof onto a trampoline held by the firefighters. Dogpatch temporarily takes the dog, who they call Dewy because of his ID tag, while Capt. Fahey orders Shane to make found dog fliers. When they return to the station, Capt. Fahey's friend Zachary Hayden (a former firefighter who now works for the city) informs him the city manager intends to shutdown the firehouse. Fahey asks Zach to buy them time. At home, Shane makes the fliers with frustration due to Dewey, who never stands still at camera, cleans Shane's room, and steals Shane's bed. The next day, while Shane is putting up the fliers, Dewy does some special stunts with Shane's skateboard.
Amazed, Shane brings him to the firefighter's picnic where there is a dog stunt competition, very similar to dog agility
. After watching his friend J.J. (Jessie Presey's daughter) compete flawlessly with Greenpoint's female dalmatian
Sparky, Shane decides to try it out. The whole crew is surprised as he effortlessly maneuvers the course, beating Sparky's time by several seconds. Dewy is about to win until he reaches the last obstacle, a ring with flames where he stops, apparently unwilling to jump through for fear of fire (but actually mesmerized by Sparky, who looks similar to his ex-girlfriend). His time runs out, and Dogpatch is still proud of Dewy and Shane, despite being taunted by Greenpoint for losing. Shane half-heartedly congratulates J.J., who informs him that "the better dog lost."
With less than a week left until closing, the Dogpatch crew and Shane bond with Dewy, who happens to have a special talent for rescuing people trapped in fires. 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, Marc Fahey, had gotten killed in a saw mill fire which was suspected to be arson
. While the firefighters begin to pack, Zach returns and informes them that Dogpatch does not have to close because Dewy has raised the station's publicity. Everyone is happy.
While looking through the captain's office, Shane takes the sawmill mystery upon himself and examines the evidence. One of the photos is of a wrist watch, which was used to start the sawmill fire. Also, he organizes his dad's push pin map of fires into a map on a computer. Shane's dad comes home and tells him about a gala being held that evening, and then looks at Shane's "research" of the mystery and map. He compliments him, saying he is strong, but Shane cries and talks about Uncle Marc. He feels like a bad person because when he heard a firefighter had been missing that day, he was happy to hear his uncle had died because it wasn't Connor. The two bond.
After heroically rescuing Jessie Presley of Greenpoint, in a tunnel fire, Dewy makes his first public debut as the Dogpatch mascot. Dogpatch then makes huge news and Dewy begins to be called "Wonderdog". The mayor decides upon keeping Dogpatch open and asks Shane to appear with Dewy at the firefighter's gala. Shane decides to show the audience what Dewy can do. He asks the city manager to give Shane his wrist watch, which Connor hides. Shane asks Dewy to find the watch. Instead Dewy finds his past owner Trey who had desperately searched for him all that time. After Dewy is reunited with his former owner, Shane and Connor are both exceedingly disappointed.
Shane disheartedly returns to the gala and gives the watch back to the city manager Corbin Sellars, but notices it is a "BOUTINE" brand; the same brand used to start the mill fire. After following the city manager into the kitchen, he hears him plotting with another firefighter to burn their next target so the land can be used to build a football stadium. Shane rushes to the station to warn his dad who turns out to be responding to a harbor fire on a garbage barge. Dewy, who hears the sirens, jumps out of the hotel he and Trey are staying at. Dewy rushes to the fire and helps to put it out.
After several failed attempts to reach his dad, Shane contacts J.J. and 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. He tells her of the scheme, they realize the fire on the garbage barge at the harbor was a decoy to occupy the firemen, and the real target is Dogpatch, the fire station.
Shane hears something upstairs and hangs up on J.J. He realizes the firefighter
arsonist is Zach, who set all the past fires including the mill fire, and is rigging the station. As Zach is about to leave, Shane confronts him with a fire extinguisher. They fight, but are interrupted when a huge explosion occurs, sending them to the ground. At the harbor, Dewy senses something going on at the station. He dashes all the way to Dogpatch and sees Zach about to leave. He forces him into a phone booth. Dewy then spots Shane who was unconscious and wakes him up.
Dogpatch arrives first on the scene and breaks through the garage door. Zach is first to be rescued. Shane, with Dewy, 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. His dad ushers a choking Shane out of the building, Dewy in the lead. As his dad puts an oxygen mask on him, Shane gasps Zach Hayden set all of the fires, including the one that killed his uncle. Hayden is quickly turned over to the police.
Corbin Sellars's scam is revealed to the news and the Dogpatch crew members each receive a medal of honor. They also renovate the station and receive a dreamed-of 900 hp. Chrysler Hemi engine for their firetruck. Trey reclaims Dewy, but changes his mind; saying after Dewy had been a real hero, he'd never be happy acting like one. Trey hands Dewy over to Shane, and Shane and the fire station crew are happy. The movie ends with Engine 55 going to yet another fire, with Dewy tagging along.
s named Arwen
, Frodo
, Rohan
, and Stryder
, named after the characters/location from The Lord of the Rings
story.
The film was shot in Toronto
and Hamilton, Ontario
, Canada
.
, and a 43/100 on Metacritic
. Justin Chang of Variety
called it, "A likable but ungainly mutt of a movie". 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". While Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer
called it "a touching, family-friendly entertainment about a dog and his boy",
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". 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". Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune
(April 11, 2007) says: "Once it figures out it is more drama than comedy, "Firehouse Dog" exceeds your limited expectations....While the movie's ad campaign suggests wacky antics all the way, a surprisingly affecting and well-acted father/son relationship develops."
Family film
A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families.In December 2005, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came first in a poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films. The genre today generates billions of dollars per annum.Family...
produced by Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company formed by Arnon Milchan and Joseph P. Grace. It was founded in 1982 as Embassy International Pictures, but the company name changed to avoid confusion with Norman Lear's Embassy Pictures . Its most successful film is...
and distributed by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. Directed by Todd Holland, it stars Josh Hutcherson
Josh Hutcherson
Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles...
, Bruce Greenwood
Bruce Greenwood
Bruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film...
, Dash Mihok
Dash Mihok
Dashiell "Dash" Mihok is an American actor.-Life and career:Mihok was born in New York City, New York, the son of actors Andrea and Raymond Thorne . He attended the Bronx High School of Science and was raised in Greenwich Village. While at the Bronx High School of Science, Dash played baseball as...
, Steven Culp
Steven Culp
Steven Bradford Culp is an American film and television actor, best known for his roles as Rex Van de Kamp in the television series Desperate Housewives and CIA Agent Clayton Webb in JAG.-Early life:...
and Bill Nunn
Bill Nunn
-Early life:Nunn was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of William G. Nunn, Jr., a well-known journalist and editor at the Pittsburgh Courier, as well as an NFL scout. Nunn's paternal grandfather was the first African American football player at George Westinghouse High School.Nunn was a...
. It was released April 4, 2007, in the U.S.
Plot
The film starts in the tour bus of a celebrity dog Rexx. He is about to film a secret agent skydiving movie scene, but appears depressed and refuses. After some persuasion, he is seen on a plane and then lightningLightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
hits it, knocking Rexxx out. He lands in a truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
full of tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es and ends up as a stray on the streets, nearly being captured by a dogcatcher. He soon meets a boy named Shane Fahey (Josh Hutcherson
Josh Hutcherson
Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles...
), who is ditching his science class. Because Rexxx helps to capture truant Shane, the boy hates Rexx and calls him "ugly stinking mutt," and "The Mutt from Hell". As Shane is taken to the fire station by his two friends and firefighters, Rexx stays in the basement of a textile building. Shane confronts his dad, the station captain, Captain Connor Fahey (played by Bruce Greenwood
Bruce Greenwood
Bruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film...
), who is currently dealing with a crisis. His station, engine 55, also known as Dogpatch, is notoriously late when dispatching and responding to fires, leading to bad publicity.
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 Jessie Presley. Engine 55 arrives at the fire with Shane who spots Rexxx, on the roof of the burning building. Rexxx jumps from the roof onto a trampoline held by the firefighters. Dogpatch temporarily takes the dog, who they call Dewy because of his ID tag, while Capt. Fahey orders Shane to make found dog fliers. When they return to the station, Capt. Fahey's friend Zachary Hayden (a former firefighter who now works for the city) informs him the city manager intends to shutdown the firehouse. Fahey asks Zach to buy them time. At home, Shane makes the fliers with frustration due to Dewey, who never stands still at camera, cleans Shane's room, and steals Shane's bed. The next day, while Shane is putting up the fliers, Dewy does some special stunts with Shane's skateboard.
Amazed, Shane brings him to the firefighter's picnic where there is a dog stunt competition, very similar to dog agility
Dog agility
Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles...
. After watching his friend J.J. (Jessie Presey's daughter) compete flawlessly with Greenpoint's female dalmatian
Dalmatian (dog)
The Dalmatian is a breed of dog whose roots are often said to trace back to Dalmatia, a region of Croatia where the first illustrations of the dog have been found. The Dalmatian is noted for its unique black- or brown-spotted coat and was mainly used as a carriage dog in its early days...
Sparky, Shane decides to try it out. The whole crew is surprised as he effortlessly maneuvers the course, beating Sparky's time by several seconds. Dewy is about to win until he reaches the last obstacle, a ring with flames where he stops, apparently unwilling to jump through for fear of fire (but actually mesmerized by Sparky, who looks similar to his ex-girlfriend). His time runs out, and Dogpatch is still proud of Dewy and Shane, despite being taunted by Greenpoint for losing. Shane half-heartedly congratulates J.J., who informs him that "the better dog lost."
With less than a week left until closing, the Dogpatch crew and Shane bond with Dewy, who happens to have a special talent for rescuing people trapped in fires. 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, Marc Fahey, had gotten killed in a saw mill fire which was suspected to be arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. While the firefighters begin to pack, Zach returns and informes them that Dogpatch does not have to close because Dewy has raised the station's publicity. Everyone is happy.
While looking through the captain's office, Shane takes the sawmill mystery upon himself and examines the evidence. One of the photos is of a wrist watch, which was used to start the sawmill fire. Also, he organizes his dad's push pin map of fires into a map on a computer. Shane's dad comes home and tells him about a gala being held that evening, and then looks at Shane's "research" of the mystery and map. He compliments him, saying he is strong, but Shane cries and talks about Uncle Marc. He feels like a bad person because when he heard a firefighter had been missing that day, he was happy to hear his uncle had died because it wasn't Connor. The two bond.
After heroically rescuing Jessie Presley of Greenpoint, in a tunnel fire, Dewy makes his first public debut as the Dogpatch mascot. Dogpatch then makes huge news and Dewy begins to be called "Wonderdog". The mayor decides upon keeping Dogpatch open and asks Shane to appear with Dewy at the firefighter's gala. Shane decides to show the audience what Dewy can do. He asks the city manager to give Shane his wrist watch, which Connor hides. Shane asks Dewy to find the watch. Instead Dewy finds his past owner Trey who had desperately searched for him all that time. After Dewy is reunited with his former owner, Shane and Connor are both exceedingly disappointed.
Shane disheartedly returns to the gala and gives the watch back to the city manager Corbin Sellars, but notices it is a "BOUTINE" brand; the same brand used to start the mill fire. After following the city manager into the kitchen, he hears him plotting with another firefighter to burn their next target so the land can be used to build a football stadium. Shane rushes to the station to warn his dad who turns out to be responding to a harbor fire on a garbage barge. Dewy, who hears the sirens, jumps out of the hotel he and Trey are staying at. Dewy rushes to the fire and helps to put it out.
After several failed attempts to reach his dad, Shane contacts J.J. and 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. He tells her of the scheme, they realize the fire on the garbage barge at the harbor was a decoy to occupy the firemen, and the real target is Dogpatch, the fire station.
Shane hears something upstairs and hangs up on J.J. He realizes the firefighter
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
arsonist is Zach, who set all the past fires including the mill fire, and is rigging the station. As Zach is about to leave, Shane confronts him with a fire extinguisher. They fight, but are interrupted when a huge explosion occurs, sending them to the ground. At the harbor, Dewy senses something going on at the station. He dashes all the way to Dogpatch and sees Zach about to leave. He forces him into a phone booth. Dewy then spots Shane who was unconscious and wakes him up.
Dogpatch arrives first on the scene and breaks through the garage door. Zach is first to be rescued. Shane, with Dewy, 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. His dad ushers a choking Shane out of the building, Dewy in the lead. As his dad puts an oxygen mask on him, Shane gasps Zach Hayden set all of the fires, including the one that killed his uncle. Hayden is quickly turned over to the police.
Corbin Sellars's scam is revealed to the news and the Dogpatch crew members each receive a medal of honor. They also renovate the station and receive a dreamed-of 900 hp. Chrysler Hemi engine for their firetruck. Trey reclaims Dewy, but changes his mind; saying after Dewy had been a real hero, he'd never be happy acting like one. Trey hands Dewy over to Shane, and Shane and the fire station crew are happy. The movie ends with Engine 55 going to yet another fire, with Dewy tagging along.
Production notes
Rexxx/Dewey is played in the film by four different Irish TerrierIrish Terrier
The Irish Terrier is a dog breed from Ireland, one of many breeds of Terrier.The Irish Terrier is an active and compactly sized dog that is suited for life in both rural and city environments. Its harsh red coat protects it from all kinds of weather....
s named Arwen
Arwen
Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. She appears in his novel, The Lord of the Rings, usually published in three volumes. Arwen is one of the Half-elven who lived during the Third Age.-Literature:...
, Frodo
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
, Rohan
Rohan
Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is a grassland which lies north of its ally Gondor and north-west of Mordor, the realm of Sauron, their enemy . It is inhabited by the Rohirrim, a people of herdsmen and farmers who are well-known for their horses and cavalry....
, and Stryder
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
, named after the characters/location from The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
story.
The film was shot in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Cast
- Josh HutchersonJosh HutchersonJoshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles...
as Shane Fahey - Bruce GreenwoodBruce GreenwoodBruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film...
as Captain Connor Fahey - Claudette MinkClaudette MinkClaudette Mink is a Canadian actress.-Filmography:Television* Fringe : Captain Diane Burgess – 1 episode* Harper's Island : Katherine Wellington – 9 episodes* Reaper : Cindy – 1 episode...
as Captain Jessie Presley - Hannah LochnerHannah LochnerHannah Lochner is a Canadian actress.She has appeared in number of made-for-TV films and in a number of Canadian television series such as Life with Derek, Wild Card. But she is perhaps best known for her opening scene as Vivian in the 2004 film, Dawn of the Dead. She also has a number of films...
as Jasmine "J.J." Presley - Bill NunnBill Nunn-Early life:Nunn was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of William G. Nunn, Jr., a well-known journalist and editor at the Pittsburgh Courier, as well as an NFL scout. Nunn's paternal grandfather was the first African American football player at George Westinghouse High School.Nunn was a...
as Probationary FF Joe Musto - Scotch Ellis Long as FF Lionel "Burr" Bradford
- Mayte Garcia as FF Pep Clemente
- Teddy SearsTeddy SearsEdward M. "Teddy" Sears is an American television actor, best known for his roles on One Life to Live and the TNT series Raising the Bar.- Early life :...
as FF Terrence Kahn - Steven CulpSteven CulpSteven Bradford Culp is an American film and television actor, best known for his roles as Rex Van de Kamp in the television series Desperate Housewives and CIA Agent Clayton Webb in JAG.-Early life:...
as City Manager Zachary "Zach" Hayden - Dash MihokDash MihokDashiell "Dash" Mihok is an American actor.-Life and career:Mihok was born in New York City, New York, the son of actors Andrea and Raymond Thorne . He attended the Bronx High School of Science and was raised in Greenwich Village. While at the Bronx High School of Science, Dash played baseball as...
as Trey Falcon - Bree TurnerBree Turner-Childhood and family:Turner was born in Palo Alto, California. Her father is a former pro-football player for the Washington Redskins. In 1995, Bree graduated from Monte Vista High School in Danville, California, where she was voted 1994 Homecoming Queen, class of 1995...
as Liz Knowles - Shane Daly as Burr Baldwin
- Arwen as Rexxx/Dewy the Dog
- Frodo as Rexxx/Dewy the Dog
- Rohan as Rexxx/Dewy the Dog
- Stryder as Rexxx/Dewy the Dog
Distribution
This movie was filmed in 2005 but was released in 2007. The DVD was released July 31, 2007. The Blu-Ray was released 2011.Release dates
- USA and Canada: April 4, 2007
- Philippines: April 25, 2007 (Manila)
- Spain: June 8, 2007
- Philippines: June 20, 2007 (Davao)
- France: June 27, 2007
- UK: July 20, 2007
- Sweden: August 3, 2007
- Italy: August 10, 2007
- Belgium: August 22, 2007
- Malaysia: August 30, 2007
- Mexico: August 31, 2007
- Japan: September 1, 2007
- Colombia: October 12, 2007
- Russia: October 23, 2007 (DVD premiere)
- Iceland: November 7, 2007 (DVD premiere)
- Panama: November 9, 2007
- Poland: December 7, 2007
- Hungary: December 12, 2007 (DVD premiere)
- Argentina: January 16, 2008 (DVD premiere)
- Venezuela: February 22, 2008
Reception
Firehouse Dog received mainly negative to mixed reviews from film critics. It garnered 31% positive reviews on the film-critic aggregate site Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, and a 43/100 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Justin Chang of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called it, "A likable but ungainly mutt of a movie". Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr has been a film critic for the Boston Globe since 2002 where he reviews films alongside Wesley Morris.Born in 1957, he studied film at Dartmouth College and New York University and has written three books: The Hundred Greatest Movies of All Time, The Hundred Greatest Stars of All Time and...
in The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
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". While Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
called it "a touching, family-friendly entertainment about a dog and his boy",
Chris Kaltenbach of The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
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". Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....
of Film Journal International
Film Journal International
Film Journal International is a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It is a sister publication of Adweek, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and other periodicals....
capped his review by suggesting that, "Firehouse Dog should be put to sleep before it can do the same to audiences". Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
(April 11, 2007) says: "Once it figures out it is more drama than comedy, "Firehouse Dog" exceeds your limited expectations....While the movie's ad campaign suggests wacky antics all the way, a surprisingly affecting and well-acted father/son relationship develops."