THE SHAGGY DOG
US, 2006, 99 minutes, Colour.
Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr, Kristen Davis, Danny Glover, Spencer Breslin, Zina Gray, Jane Kirtain, Philip Baker Hall, Joshua Leonard.
Directed by Brian Levant.
The Shaggy Dog is really a shaggy dog for younger audiences and tolerant parents. It was told in the late 1950s with Fred Mac Murray becoming a dog and learning a lesson or two about life and relationships from his dog’s eye view. Dean Jones had the same experience in the 1970s with The Shaggy DA. This time round, Tim Allen (who co-produced) is a DA who is prosecuting a protestor who alleges that a company is conducting experiments with animals and who, while getting his daughter out of the protest lie-down, is bitten by the real shaggy dog (who is from Tibet and has lived for several hundred years) and turns shaggy himself (and back again) at irregular times. So, there you are.
The shaggy is quite impressive and is beloved of the DAs two critical (and sometimes annoying – to the audience as well) children. The DAs wife is wondering whether he has stopped loving her. And he is far too busy for his family. There’s nothing like turning into a pet dog to hear what the family really think and feel. Will the DA become human again – in all senses of the plot?
In the meantime the pantomime villain, all tics and resentment against his boss who wants the dog’s potion to live forever, bribing his mercenary assistants, lies his way through the trial and trying to work out which dog is which. And, you guessed it. He is bitten and gets poetic canine justice. The fact that he is played by Robert Downey Jr taking time off from more serious films means that you get an intriguing blend of acting and mugging. But, if you choose to see this shaggy dog story, what more could you want?
1.The popularity of the original film? The idea of the transformation of a man into a dog? The dog and the human qualities combining to give a man extrasensory perception? The sequels? The film of The Shaggy DA? All combined here for a 21st century version?
2.The fantasy elements, the appeal to the contemporary audience, younger audiences, to adults? The story, the fantasy, the jokes, the slapstick?
3.The prologue: Tibet, the long-living dog, the monks, the abduction of the dog – and the corny criminals? The transfer of the dog to Los Angeles? To the pharmaceutical company? The cages, the range of animals in captivity?
4.Dr Kozak as the villain, sinister, comic strip villain? His interaction with the boss of the company? The boss and his wanting to live longer? The experiments to get the secret from the dog, the chemical components? The unscrupulous lab assistants? On the verge of success?
5.Justin Forrester, in court, the protest against animal experimentation? The animal rights activists? Dave Douglas and his prosecuting him? The protests outside the company? Douglas’s daughter and her participation? The final vindication of Forrester and his accusations?
6.Dave Douglas, the DA, his being self-assured, his manner in the court? The contrast with life at home, his daughter and her disdain? Her modern dress? Going to the protest? His son? The alienation from his wife, tension at home?
7.His boss, his being put on notice to make a success of the case? His going to retrieve his daughter, the protesters, the dog, his being bitten – and his transformation? His waking up with heightened senses, like a dog? At home? In the courtroom – and his behaviour, his antics? The reaction of the judge, of his boss, with Dr Kozak? His falling asleep, returning to human form? As a dog, his children and their liking for the dog, his wife and the dog? His overhearing his children discussing how he is as a father? Discovering his wife’s tension? His absence, writing the note? His confrontation with Dr Kozak? Finding the real dog? Going to the lab, being captured, his smart means of escape through the complex laboratory, freeing the animals and their helping him? Trying to get to the court, turning into a dog, on the court steps, the transformation in front of his family? His final vindication in the court? His cross-examination of Dr Kozak, Dr Kozak? and his having been bitten – and his behaviour as a dog in the court? The happy reconciliation with his family? Lessons learnt by being a dog?
8.Dr Kozak, his ambitions, his denials in the court, tracking down the dog, retrieving it from the pound? The two assistants and their greed? His confrontation with the owner, not giving him the potion? His behaviour in court, his being bitten, his antics in the courtroom as a dog?
9.The two assistants, their skills, plotting, conniving with the plans, unscrupulous animal experimentation, wanting the money? Their comeuppance?
10.The portrait of the family, the son and his attitude towards his father, the daughter and her surliness? Their discussing the situation, their going to the pound, getting the dog, mixing it up with their father, his overhearing their discussions? His wife, the gifts of flowers, her misunderstandings? His attempts to rectify the matter? The happy reconciliation?
11.The court proceedings, Dave’s boss and his exasperation? The judge and her exasperation? Everything finally put to rights?
12.Popular Disney material, animals and humans, dogs as pets, parents and their realising how to treat their children?
