The only talent here is the dog and the kid. The rest of the cast go through the motions, but not convincingly.

Honestly now, is there a movie out there that has more unappealing actors in it than appear in "Cool Dog"? I come at this from having watched Tod Browning's "Freaks" more than once in my lifetime and that film actually has more engaging characters. What's with the Mom (Christa Campbell) in this story? Was she supposed to be a mean spirited stepmother to Jimmy (Jackson Pace) on purpose, or am I just being too sensitive? Not to be outdone of course by characters like Muriel and Reuben, the landlords from hell, Big Game Gostavo and all the other weirdos that populated this film. Even the kid Jimmy didn't seem all that appealing to me, but gee, did they have to pack him in a wooden crate to ship off to Mexico? Who thought that was a good idea?

So here's the thing - my seven year old granddaughter laughed herself silly watching this flick, so there's something to be said for bad films that offer young kids a good time. The message of perseverance on the part of Rainy the German Shepherd is a good one, reinforced by young Jimmy's loyalty to the family pet who he never gives up on. Those are good values to expose one's kids to, so if you have to suck it up for an hour and a half to watch along, it's better than having them turn out to be juvenile delinquents.

This movie is definitely intended for the children and young audience. I am sure that children of all ages will love the dog in the movie. To me, it seemed like a 2010 version to reinvent "Lassie", just with a new name and a new breed of dog.

The story is fairly easy to follow, though I found it to be over the top in the level of sassy and stupidity. But of course, I looked at it with adult eyes, not the eyes of a child. For children, I am sure that the things that happen in the movie will be fun, and that the children will totally buy into all the things that this dog apparently is capable of doing.

Everything in this movie was so stereotypical. You have a small town family moving to the big city (New York, in this case), and of course life in small towns is apparently all idyllic and cozy, while life in the big city is stressful, lacking color and luster, and just a constant buzz of activity. Then you have the wicked stepmother. And Christa Campbell was doing such a horrible work portraying that role. Normally she is alright in movies, but this? Wow... Anyway, moving on, the small town boy is being bullied by the kids in the new school, again something stereotypical. And the landlords of their building, wow, that was an insult to landlords, New Yorkers and people everywhere. The stereotypical lists doesn't end here, but I will cut it short.

The dog was actually lovable and it had been trained well, because it performed well in the movie and the many various scenes it was doing.

For families with children and for kids of all ages, the movie "Cool Dog" would be worth sitting down together and watch, because it is a heartwarming story and a likable one at that. But as an adult, this movie was just too far out there. I remember watching "Lassie" when I was a kid, so I think "Cool Dog" is a good attempt at bringing the spirit of "Lassie" back in the way of an up-to-date story and have a new dog star as the 'hero'.