Firehouse Dog [WS]

Director: Todd Holland Todd Holland

Overview

Hollywood's hottest canine commodity has gotten hopelessly lost after wandering away from his master, and now the former movie star has become the beacon of hope for a small-town firehouse on the verge of collapse. Rex is the dog that every child in America has fallen in love with. A pompous A-list barker whose list of perks overshadows that of even the most esteemed Hollywood actor, Rex 's fate takes an unexpected turn when a skydiving stunt goes awry and his handlers assume that their cash-canine has perished as a result. Now, despite being very much alive, the former doggie diva has become just another mangy stray wandering the streets in search of a home. Lost in an unfamiliar city and pursued by animal control, Rex seeks refuge in a run down building that soon goes up in flames. Shane Fahey (Josh Hutcherson) is a rebellious preteen whose single-parent father, Connor (Bruce Greenwood), is struggling to care for his son and cope with the death of his brother, the former captain of the local fire department. Pressed with the responsibility of getting the crumbling inner-city fire house back in working order while helping his 12-year-old son deal with the untimely loss of a beloved family member, Connor just can't seem to convince Shane to keep his grades up and stop ditching school. Upon rescuing the unidentified Rex from the four-alarm blaze, Connor attempts to teach young Shane the meaning of responsibility by charging him with the task of locating the dog's owner. Despite an initial clash of personalities, the headstrong mutt and the disobedient adolescent soon form a strong bond. Subsequently adopted as the scrappy fire department's new mascot, Rex proves just the catalyst needed to reenergize the dejected firefighters and reform the once-tenuous bond between father and son.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/31/2007
UPC:	0024543450573
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	PG
Source:	20Th Century Fox
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00

Special Features

Dog Treats featurettes; Firehouse Dog: A True Hollywoof Story featurette; Deleted scenes with optional director's commentary; Storyboard-to-screen comparison with optional director's commentary; Alternate opening scene animatic with optional director/writers/producers commetary; Fox Movie Channel presents Casting Session; Humane Society PSA with Josh Hutcherson; Dogster photo montage; Canine star poster gallery; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Josh Hutcherson	Shane Fahey
Bruce Greenwood	Connor Fahey
Bill Nunn	Joe Musto
Scotch Ellis Loring	Lionel Bradford
Mayte Garcia	Pep Clemente
Bree Turner	Liz Knowles
Hannah Lochner	Jasmine "J.J." Presley
Claudette Mink	Captain Jessie Presley
Shane Daly	Actor
Dan Willmott	Actor
B.J. McQueen	Actor
Paul Stephen	Actor
Ramona Pringle	Actor
Magdalena Alexander	Actor
Michael Wood	Actor
Bob Koherr	Voices
Teddy Sears	Terence Kahn
Kathryn Haggis	Actor
Randy Triggs	Actor
Carl Barlow	Actor
Eric Weinthal	Actor
Dorly Jean-Louis	Actor
Diavion Henningham	Actor,Actor
Joseph Adam	Actor
Joanna Bennett	Actor
Sevag Sagherian	Actor
Dave Grimshaw	Actor
Sean Lally	Actor
Isaac Otan	Actor
Matt Cooke	Actor
Katie Finneran	Actor
Stephen Culp	Actor,Zachary Hayden
Brandon Craggs	Actor
Joseph Zita	Actor
Dan Duran	Actor
Steven Cartwright	Actor
Aaron Abrams	Actor
James Arnold	Actor
Jeffrey R. Smith	Actor
Zoe Mugford	Actor
Dash Mihok	Trey Falcon
Zoe Doyle	Actor
Arwen	Rexxx
Jean-Michel Frodon	Rexxx
Eamon Rohan	Rexxx
Stryder	Rexxx
Owen Wilson	Actor
Judy Greer	Actor
Jeff Cardoni	Composer

Technical Credits

Michael Colleary

Mike Werb

Claire-Dee Lim

Vince Di Meglio

Tim Rasmussen

Todd Holland	Director
Michael Colleary	Screenwriter,Producer
Mike Werb	Screenwriter,Producer
Claire-Dee Lim	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Meg Liberman	Casting
Cami Patton	Casting
Shelley Cook	Stunts
Warren Appleby	Special Effects
Michael J. Maschio	Producer
James Andrykowski	Special Effects
Eric Apps	Sound Effects
Derek Casari	Sound Effects
Gavin Coford	Sound Effects
Roland Gauvin	Key Grip
Sue Parker	Stunts
John Stoneham Jr.	Stunts
Nick Nolan	Stunts
Ed Queffelec	Stunts
Brad Bunn	Stunts
Curtis Hibbert	Stunts
Lisse Keeling	Stunts
Susan Shopmaker	Casting
Camille Patton	Casting
Ron Bell	Stunts
Len Wagner	Stunts
Rico Emerson	Key Grip
Acme Special Effects	Special Effects
Tina Gerussi	Casting
Shane Cardwell	Stunts
Scott Cook	Stunts
Layton Morrison	Stunts
Dan Belley	Stunts
Robert Thomas	Stunts
Alicia Turner	Stunts
Brian Thomas	Stunts
Mike Armstrong	Stunts
Roy Elliston	Key Grip
Billy Oliver	Stunts
Wayne Downer	Stunts
Darren Marsman	Stunts
Robert Racki	Stunts
Chad Camileri	Stunts
Blair Johannes	Stunts
Henry Embry	Sound/Sound Designer
Tom Dey	Director
Vince Di Meglio	Screenwriter
Tim Rasmussen	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

If you're justifiably wondering how a movie called Firehouse Dog clocks in at a whopping 111 minutes, consider all they're trying to squeeze in: a boy and his dog movie, a boy and his dad movie, a Hollywood satire, a workplace buddy comedy, a mystery surrounding arson, and a romantic angle featuring a love interest for almost every character, including the dog. Somehow, it works -- sort of, eventually. Firehouse Dog sputters out of the gate, when the titular pooch -- a canine actor named Rexxx, known for his signature hairpiece -- survives a fall out of an airplane, then wanders into the precinct of a local firehouse. Here he participates in numerous slapstick shenanigans, many of which involve digitally grafting facial expressions on the dog, which range from merely goofy to downright grotesque. During this inauspicious first act, there's a manufactured hatred between the fire captain's son (Josh Hutcherson) and Rexxx, straight out of any romantic comedy where the romantic leads initially despise each other. But Todd Holland's unwieldy mess starts to take shape sometime in the second act, and that's thanks in large part to the focus on the father-son story, touchingly executed by two solid actors: Hutcherson and Bruce Greenwood. Greenwood has too much gravitas to keep getting stuck in kids movies (he also appeared in Racing Stripes and Eight Below), but here at least he's reunited with Steven Culp, after Culp and Greenwood both memorably played Kennedy brothers in the considerably more adult-oriented Thirteen Days. In the second act the arson story also takes hold, and the dog actually starts growing on us - first tolerable, then sympathetic. The Hollywood satire stuff never works that well, except for the names of the fake movies Rexxx stars in, such as Jurassic Bark and The Fast and the Furriest.