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Susan Granger's review of "SEE SPOT RUN" (Warner Bros.)
The comedic talent of David Arquette and the clever casting of expressive six year-old Angus T. Jones make the wacky slapstick antics of this canine comedy very, very funny. Arquette plays an intrepid U.S. Postal carrier coping with a delivery route that leads him straight through "dog alley," where one pugnacious pooch after another tries to sabotage him. "There's not a dog on this planet that can scare me," he boasts. But the pratfalls of his personal life are another matter. He's immature and unreliable which makes him less than appealing to his blonde, beautiful neighbor (Leslie Bibb), a conscientious single mother whose baby-sitter cancels on her just as she's leaving for an out-of-town business trip, forcing her to leave her impressionable son (Angus T. Jones) in his care. "You're a life-saver," she says. "Yeah, all five flavors," he replies. Meanwhile, there's a canine crisis when a mob boss (Paul Sorvino) puts out a contract on an FBI superdog, a 100-pound Bull Mastiff, known as Agent Eleven: a.k.a. Spot, who seeks refuge in suburbia and winds up in the truck of this mutt-hating mailman, much to the dismay of his devoted FBI trainer (Michael Clarke Duncan). Reminiscent of Buster Keaton, David Arquette has the heart of a clown. He's a master of physical comedy. The five credited writers and director John Whitesell make the most of his gleeful exuberance, particularly as his relationship develops with the diminutive child. "You'd be fun for a dad," the kid concludes. Yeah, right. There's also some lame urologic and yucky dog-poop humor that makes it PG, rather than G-rated. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "See Spot Run" is a fun-filled, silly 6. Sure, it's cops 'n' robbers and a doggone dog, but, for kids, this is a crowd-pleaser and a rollicking good time.
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