The Shaggy Dog is a 2006 American family comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and written by Geoff Rodkey, Jack Amiel, Michael Begler, Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley. It is the second remake of the 1959 film of the same name, which was first remade as a television film in 1994. Both the 1959 and 1994 features, as well as the 1976 theatrical sequel and the 1987 television sequel, had a character named Wilby Daniels transforming into a Old English Sheepdog, whereas this remake presents a character named Dave Douglas transforming into a Bearded Collie. It stars Tim Allen, Robert Downey, Jr., Kristin Davis, Danny Glover, Spencer Breslin, Jane Curtin, Zena Grey and Philip Baker Hall.
The Shaggy Dog released on March 10, 2006 by Walt Disney Pictures, received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $87 million against its $60 million budget.
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Plot
Dave Douglas (Tim Allen) is a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County who is prosecuting social studies teacher and activist Justin Forrester (Joshua Leonard) for firebombing the pharmaceutical corporation Grant and Strictland. Forrester denies this, but claims that Grant and Strictland have been engaging in illegal animal experimentation. This distances Douglas from his daughter Carly (Zena Grey), one of Forrester's students.
The greedy geneticists working for Mr. Lance Strictland (Philip Baker Hall), led by Dr. Kozak (Robert Downey, Jr.), have stolen a 300-year-old sacred dog named Khyi Yang Po (a Bearded Collie) from a Tibetan monastery. The scientists determine that Khyi Yang Po's genetic sequence, when isolated and put into a vaccination, invades and alters the cells and DNA of a victim.
When Dave returns from work, he takes Khyi Yang Po out in the garage, then the dog runs to get the newspaper. Khyi Yang Po gives him his newspaper, and Dave reaches for it, only to be bitten on the hand by Khyi Yang Po. Khyi Yang Po's saliva goes into Dave's blood and DNA, infecting him.
In the ongoing trial, Forrester testifies seeing the animals behaving like dogs, which sparks Dave's suspicions about Grant and Strictland. When his dog-like behavior annoys the judge, Dave is removed from the case. Hidden in the laboratory, Dave witnesses Dr. Kozak injecting company president Lance Strictland with a drug that will paralyze him for several months, giving Kozak enough time to usurp control of the company. After viewing security cameras, Kozak and his minions realize that somehow Dave became an exact copy of Khyi Yang Po.
When Dave comes home, still in his canine form, he overhears a conversation between Carly and Josh that he and Rebecca may be splitting up. After hearing this, Dave then knocks over a Scrabble game and uses the letters to reveal and clarify all the past events to them. But when Dave gets out of the house, he is captured by Kozak's minions.
Dave is taken to the lab to be euthanized, but Kozak has a court summons, and must deal with Dave later. Right before he exits, Kozak mocks Dave in canine form and is bitten in the process. He then begins to exhibit the same issues Dave had at the beginning of his adventure; Dave had successfully transferred the gene sequence into Kozak.
In the courtroom, Dave calls Kozak back to the stand and tries to get him to admit what he has done, but Kozak manages to hide his secret. Thinking quickly, he mocks Kozak by implying he was working under Strictland's shadow, and angers him. The two begin growling at each another, and the judge, exasperated by Dave's canine behavior, orders the bailiff to remove him. But Dave manages to spur on Kozak's canine instincts, triggering a mutation in him, after which he is arrested. The pharmaceutical company is returned to Strictland, the mutant animals are protected, and Dave is able to spend more time with his family. The movie ends with the family vacationing in Hawaii, where Khyi Yang Po appears surfing, but dog style. Dave's canine habits slightly remain as he catches a frisbee with his teeth in the closing scene.
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Cast
Release
The film was released in the United States on March 10, 2006. To tie-in with the theatrical release of the 2006 remake, the original 1959 movie was re-issued in the USA as a special DVD labeled "The Wild & Woolly Edition," which featured the movie in two forms: one in the original black and white, the other a colorized version. The colorized version however is not restored and suffers from age. In the UK, however, the 1959 movie has only ever been made available on DVD in black and white.
Reception
Box office
The Shaggy Dog grossed $61.1 million in the United States and Canada and $26 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $87.1 million, against its budget of $60 million.
In its opening weekend the film made $16.3 million, finishing second at the box office behind Failure to Launch ($24.4 million).
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 102 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This Disney retread has neither inspiration nor originality, but may please moviegoers under the age of ten." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 43 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
BBC called Allen uninteresting and said he "only stops short of leg-humping in his attempts to win our affections". The film was on Richard Roeper's Worst films of 2006 list. Roger Ebert gave it 2 stars out of 4. The film earned three Razzie Award nominations including Worst Actor for Tim Allen, Worst Remake or Ripoff and Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment, but failed to "win" any of those categories. Variety Chief Film Critic Justin Chang noted: "its occasional lump-in-the-throat moments are almost effortlessly achieved, thanks to strong work from [Kristin] Davis and Spencer Breslin in particular."
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to The Shaggy Dog was released on March 14, 2006. The entire score is by Alan Menken.
- "Big Dog" - 3:38
- "Man's Best Friend" - 3:06
- "Atomic Dog" - 4:43
- "Every Dog Has It's Day" - 2:52
- "Somethin' About You" - 3:18
- "Woof! There It Is" - 3:02
- "It's A Dog" - 2:40
- "Tibet" - 2:33
- "First Signs" - 3:00
- "Transformation" - 4:04
- "Magic Lab" - 2:19
- "Breaking Through" - 2:50
- "Kozak Gets A Tail" - 2:34
- "Meditation" - 1:06
- "Escaping the Lab" - 4:42
- "To The Rescue" - 4:54
- "Family Time" - 1:20
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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