Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
43
(25 sources)
43
(25 sources)
-
75
Entertainment Weekly
The star (Allen), unleashed, is so energetic in his approximation of a bearded collie -- his nose sniffing the air, his whole being (which toggles between human and canine form) overcome by the need to fetch any stick thrown -- that his slobbery charm carries the picture. Read Full Review » -
75
-
75
Boston Globe
What The Shaggy Dog feels like, more than anything, is an old-fashioned Disney movie. Read Full Review » -
70
The Hollywood Reporter
A fast-moving Walt Disney Co. comedy that manages to sail past many of the cliches usually found in this genre while throwing together a wild story line more apt for a new millennium. Read Full Review » -
70
The New York Times
Ms. Curtin is one of several examples of quirky casting that make this Shaggy Dog much more fun than it might have been. Read Full Review » -
63
-
50
TV Guide
Crafting this crude, noisy remake of Disney's first live-action comedy required the labor of no fewer than five screenwriters. Read Full Review » -
50
-
50
New York Daily News
There are many delightful movie techniques out there available for making animals appear to speak, so it's too bad The Shaggy Dog doesn't use any of them. Read Full Review » -
50
Los Angeles Times
Strictly for the very young who will find giggles in the anthropomorphic mash-ups and won't be too distracted by the predictably mawkish sitcom plot. Read Full Review » -
50
LA Weekly
In this serviceable remake of the fondly remembered 1959 Disney comedy (which starred Fred MacMurray), an impressively dexterous Tim Allen plays Dave Douglas. Read Full Review » -
50
Austin Chronicle
There are precious few surprises here, but parents will find director Robbins' breezy remake a painless affair and, judging by the yowls of laughter from the peanut gallery at the screening I attended, the kids will be barking all the way home. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Sun-Times
It says something for Robert Downey Jr. that in a movie where a man becomes a dog, Downey creates the weirdest character. Read Full Review » -
50
Charlotte Observer
The extraordinary canine performances in Shaggy Dog and "Eight Below" lead me to wonder whether Disney could dispense with two-legged creatures altogether, until further notice. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Tribune
In movies as in life, superior technology doesn't necessarily trump humor, magic or really shaggy dogs. Read Full Review » -
50
Miami Herald
This is precisely the type of moviegoing experience engineered for those who still get a laugh when the Baha Men hit "Who Let the Dogs Out?" accompanies a doggie mayhem montage. Read Full Review » -
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The unruly pack of subplots make The Shaggy Dog much more convoluted than it needs to be. But Allen's physical comedy as man-becoming-dog, and his non-stop monologue as man-dog, are definitely worth a trip to the matinee. Read Full Review » -
40
Village Voice
My eight-year-old nephew sat nearly silent throughout, so when he says he had fun, he must be talking about the treats. Read Full Review » -
40
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38
Premiere
Feels like little more than a stale rehash with a promising cast whose talents haven't been tapped. Read Full Review » -
33
-
30
Washington Post
As a comic actor, Allen's palette is limited to varying degrees of beige. He is not only boring, he's obnoxious and narcissistic. Where's the ASPCA -- the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Audiences -- when you need 'em? Read Full Review » -
30
Wall Street Journal
The Shaggy Dog is paint, or more appropriately here, pant by the numbers. It also manages a one-two punch -- it will upset small children and bore their parents. There's just no other way to say this: Disney, that movie of yours is a dog. Read Full Review » -
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The movie is just this side of terrible. It misses all the charm and fun of the original. Allen's mugging is incorrigibly unfunny. Read Full Review » -
25
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