Firehouse Dog

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

A surprisingly heartfelt father/son relationship, handled with restraint by director Todd Holland.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

A touching, family-friendly entertainment

Los Angeles Times Alex Chun

Though it never completely catches fire, there's enough earnestness and warmth that makes it a welcome alternative in a family film arena dominated by computer animation and associated toy lines.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

An entertaining family comedy full of both tricks and trickery.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

This larger-than-life cartoon of a trained dog has more character than the two-legged co-stars.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

No best in show but a decent family comedy.

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Working with four interchangeable Deweys, the filmmakers create a sufficient number of lively stunts to keep the kiddies amused, though the film's wittiest moment -- a canine parody of Dudley Moore's first glimpse of Bo Derek in "10" -- will be appreciated only by their parents. In trying to straddle both age groups, however, Firehouse Dog proves decidedly less nimble than its furry star.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

If Firehouse Dog was on cable, where it belongs, it would make a passable diversion from homework or chores. But a kid would have to be pretty desperate to leave the house - and waste allowance money - for this modest distraction.

Variety Justin Chang

Leaving no heartstrings untugged and no doggie-fart jokes uncracked, scruffy pic reps a very mixed breed of obvious humor, gently moving father-son drama and sub-"Backdraft" trial by fire.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Firehouse Dog goes into the marginally watchable category, aimed as it is toward the middlebrow family trade, preferably dog owners with their own Sparky slopping up the station wagon windows.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

The mystery is, how the filmmakers still managed to come up with a movie that will satisfy almost no one.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

The lesson here is that dogs don't need "attitude." They're loveable enough on their own.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling

The terrier Rexxx might be the least appealing mutt ever to slobber on screen.

LA Weekly Rob Nelson

Not quite disturbingly forlorn, but forlorn (and overly literal) just the same, this latest entry in the doggy-acrobat subgenre of canine comedies has but one joke, and it comes early: In the Idol age, celebrity culture has gone to the dogs -- literally.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

Perhaps the lesson to be learned is that just because we CAN use computer technology to give dogs goofy faces, that doesn’t mean we SHOULD.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

No cliché is unturned, no "dog duty" pun avoided (get it -- dog doody), no creepy gay-panic subtext unplumbed in this family comedy.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

And that dog -- or, rather, that digitally enhanced replicant -- is just plain creepy.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The filmmakers' ineptitude is staggering.

New York Post Kyle Smith

There's too little dog and too much fire house in Firehouse Dog, a mild kid comedy that turns into a flaming arson mystery with some scenes that could be too scary for little ones.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Perhaps worst of all, the movie is painfully long.