OLD DOGS - Blu-ray review

Some movies you approach with trepidation. "Old Dogs" sounded to me like a rhyming riff on another Disney movie about old guys trying to grapple with their mid-life crises--a sequel of sorts, since John Travolta starred in both "Wild Hogs" (2007) and this 2009 film. As if that wasn't enough to scare me off, "Old Dogs" was described as a "family comedy," which lately has come to mean "stupid as hell." So-called family comedies too often consist of puerile writing, an over-reliance on toilet jokes, overly cutesy kids, and more bad slapstick than a convention of Three Stooges impersonators.

Already my mind was racing past this one, wondering where Disney could possibly go next with their contemporary Over-the-Hill Gang series. Let's see, what rhymes with "hogs" and "dogs"? Wheelchair Jogs? Bumpona Logs?

The point is, I gave "Wild Hogs" a 5 out of 10, and "Old Dogs" sounded even worse. Two bromance buddies "have their lives turned upside down when they're unexpectedly charged with the care of seven-year-old twins while on the verge of the biggest business deal of their lives"? I mean, how many times are we going to have to watch some variation of "3 Men and a Baby"?

But comedy is a funny thing. Sometimes delivery and details can make all the difference in the world. While "Old Dogs" isn't the kind of movie I'd talk up or recommend to all my Facebook friends, it was more family-friendly than I thought it would be. And the slapstick humor was surprisingly better than average. I'm embarrassed to say that I found myself laughing so hard during four or five scenes that tears came to my eyes.

As for the details that make this thing work, it all starts with the uneasy relationship between the overbearing Charlie (Travolta) and the more hapless Dan (Robin Williams). We've seen a lot of best buddy films, but writers David Diamond and David Weissman ("The Family Man," "When in Rome") give us a nice twist. These guys aren't just best friends in life; they're also business partners, and Charlie insists on breaking the ice with clients by telling embarrassing (but true) stories about his partner, then handing the ball to Dan so he can get down to details and close the deal. It's made them successful, but it's also a slight source of friction and a running gag that gets pretty funny at times-especially when the big client they're trying to pitch is a Japanese company and we get cultural differences and language barriers.

Another funny detail is that Charlie convinces Dan to get a big bold tattoo across his furry chest that says "FREE MAN" after he's divorced, only something gets lost in translation and it reads, instead, "FREEMONT"--another running gag that provides laughs in situations where Dan has to remove his shirt. Age is another running gag, but what could have been trite or obvious gets another nice detail facelift. Everywhere they go, the guys, who still think of themselves as macho, are mistaken for the kids' grandparents. Now, that in itself may not sound funny, but when they take the kids to a restaurant and the whole staff sings a welcome song for new seniors, then a spilled glass of water on the lap is misinterpreted, it's hard not to giggle.

Here's the premise: Seven years ago Dan got divorced and Charlie took him on a wild trip to have fun, during which an intoxicated Charlie got his "Freemont" tattoo and also impulsively married a younger woman he just barely met (Kelly Preston as Vicki). But Dan is a lonely guy who's been violating his bromance by secretly writing letters to Vicki, and she agrees to meet him for lunch, and he learns he's the father of twins (Conner Rayburn as Zach and Ella Bleu Travolta, John's daughter, as Emily). When her best friend Jenna (Rita Wilson) gets incapacitated--by Dan--it falls to Dan to take care of the kids when Vicki has to go away for a while. That's when the business plot converges with the domestic one, and the movie really gets going. Don't look for much character development, though. The only one with an arc of any kind is Dan, and Williams does a good job riffing on his reformed dad routine.

Walt Becker, who directed "Van Wilder" and "Wild Hogs," manages a nice level of tonal understatement that keeps "Old Dogs" from going too over-the-top except in those isolated slapstick scenes, and he also keeps the kids (or big kid Robin Williams) from taking over. Even the plot is less obvious and episodic than "Daddy Day Care" or some of the other films based on putting non-nurturing males into a situation with children. "Old Dogs" only lapses into familiarity and illogical silliness when the guys take the kids to a camp run by a guy named Barry (Matt Dillon). Where's the logic in a camp for kids and dads in which every activity that happens puts the dads in competition with each other and the kids on the sideline? And there must be a new maxim of "family comedies" that says you've got to include at least one animal encounter, whether it's a raccoon or (in this case) a gorilla who takes a shine to the guys' "go-to" assistant Ralph (Seth Green). Another scene that really doesn't make as much sense as it should features a hipster puppeteer (Bernie Mac) who puts a mo-cap suit on Dan and tries to do a Stromboli number on him. Those are the weak elements, and if they weren't there I would have given "Old Dogs" as a 7 out of 10. Even so, there are enough laughs and the film holds enough appeal for all ages that it truly is a "family comedy," believe it or not.

Video:
There's nothing old dog about the transfer to 1080p with an AVC/MPEG-4 codec. The picture looks great at all times, with no ghosts or artifacts and a pleasing amount of detail throughout. Colors are bold and bright, skin tones are appropriate, and the amount of light used makes this a bright but not washed-out movie. "Old Dogs" is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen.

There's a little more grain on the DVD and not quite the edge detail, but the picture is still strong for that medium.

Audio:
The Blu-ray audio is a lively English DTS-HD MA 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) that's more dynamic than you'd expect for a film that isn't heavy into big effects scenes. The bass has a nice rumble to it and the sound pushes away from the source speakers nicely to fill the room. Prioritization is good, too, with dialogue never needing to jostle for position with the effects tracks, ambient sound, or background music. It's a nice blend throughout, with an additional audio option in French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

The DVD features Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround that isn't as dynamic, naturally, but it still has a nice full sound. Subtitles on this disc are English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras:
I really like the Blu-ray combo packs because you get everything at once, and again, who knows where technology is headed? Combo packs are as close to a hedge against obsolescence as we have. This one comes in a blue jewel case with slipcase and a DVD plus Digital Copy.

As for the features themselves, aside from a decent commentary track featuring director Becker, the two writers, and producer Andrew Panay, all we really get is a pair of music videos, bloopers, deleted scenes, and a mini-feature. "Every Little Step" features Ella Bleu and her dad in a reminder of the cutesy direction this film could have gone (but thankfully didn't), and a black-and-white "You've Been a Friend to Me" music video performed by Bryan Adams and his sidemen who seem to have been coaxed into looking nerdy. Then "Young Dogs Learn Old Tricks" has Ella Bleu interviewing her dad, while her young male co-star interviews Williams. All are of don't-blink length, and that includes bloopers and deleted scenes (the latter of which actually include some good stuff). The DVD, which Disney promos project will be used in automobile DVD players, comes with the audio commentary, Travolta music video, bloopers, and deleted scenes.

Bottom Line:
If you locked me in a room for a month with nothing to watch but a single Robin Williams movie, I'd pick this over "RV." And if you gave me a choice between "Old Dogs" and "Wild Hogs," it's no contest. These dogs gotta have their day.