OxfordPress.com

Grade: B-

Verdict: See Spot's movie. And take the kids.

Details: Starring David Arquette, Michael Clarke Duncan and Bob. Directed by John Whitesell. Rated PG for crude humor, profanity and comic violence. One hour, 30 minutes.

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Review: The cast alone is a tip-off that "See Spot Run" is better than your average kiddie movie. There's David Arquette (aka Mr. Courteney Cox) and Paul Sorvino (aka Mira's dad) and Michael Clarke Duncan (aka an Oscar nominee for "The Green Mile").

Now, don't go expecting "My Dog Skip"; it's not that good. But overall, despite one or two unnecessarily smutty jokes (bad guys bitten in their privates), "See Spot Run" is an entertaining kid flick with lots of broad comedy and body-function humor (poop, pee and passing gas, the longstanding triumvirate of fifth-grade humor).

Spot (Bob, a 100-pound bull mastiff) is actually Agent 11, a crack member of the FBI. He and his partner (Duncan) help bust a drug ring, but the gang's boss, Sonny Talia (Sorvino), escapes. Angry and, um, hurt (remember those bites?), Sonny puts out a hit on Agent 11. For the pooch's own good, he's put in a witness protection program.

But things go wrong and Agent 11 ends up with Gordon (Arquette), a laid-back, hey-dude-where's-my-mail postal worker. Gordon has a crush on the gorgeous single mother (Leslie Bibb) next door and is baby-sitting her young son, James (Angus T. Jones), while she's on a short business trip. Thanks to James' pleas, Agent 11--- now Spot--moves in with them. But Sonny's hit men know where the dog is, and complications ensue.

Most of the silly slapstick revolves around poor hapless Gordon and Sonny's thickheaded thugs (mayhem in a pet store, a dog walk gone disastrously wrong, etc.). None of it is subtle, but it can be surprisingly inventive, and it had the preview audience screaming with delight.

The good-sport cast seems to be having a good time. Arquette is likable and agile (he carries off a lot of physical gags). The same can be said for Anthony Anderson as Gordon's break-dancing best pal. As for Bob, he's from England, and you know how those British actors are about technique.

Much of the time, "See Spot Run" plays like a pilot for a family-hour TV series. But it definitely gets the job done. And I can't imagine a better endorsement than the one I heard leaving the theater. A wee one asked his dad, "When can we see it again?"

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, (none)