# See Spot Run (2001)

### reviewed by
Steve Rhodes

    SEE SPOT RUN
    A film review by Steve Rhodes
    Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes
    RATING (0 TO ****):  **

In John Whitesell's SEE SPOT RUN, Agent 11 is placed in the agent relocation program after a Mafia boss, Sonny Talia (Paul Sorvino), puts out a contract on him. Sonny sends his top two goons, Gino (Joe Viterelli) and Arliss (Steven Schirripa), to take out the agent, who bit off one of Sonny's testicles. Did I mention yet that Agent 11 is a dog? And not just any mutt, but "the most decorated canine in FBI history." The hit men, not surprisingly, are upset about having to "whack a pooch."

If this sounds like a silly kids' comedy, it is. Repeatedly falling in the same pile of dog poop got the most laughs at our screening. In second place was a flaming Zebra fart. Don't ask.

The movie stars David Arquette as Gordon, a mailman who has a love/hate relationship with dogs. One day, the anal-retentive girl next-door, whom he's been trying unsuccessfully to date, is forced to entrust him with her 6-year-old son, James (Angus T. Jones), when her babysitter gets sick just before an out-of-town business trip. Jones (SIMPATICO) is an adorable kid with a sad pumpkin-sized face. Through a series of misadventures, Agent 11 comes to live with Gordon and James, and they name him Spot. (The dog is spotless, and the dog's new name is chosen basically so that the movie can have a catchy title.) Michael Clarke Duncan (the big convict in THE GREEN MILE) plays FBI Agent Murdoch, Agent 11's partner.

Perpetual slob Gordon transforms James from his excessively healthy diet of bran cereal, soy milk and prunes to a heavily sugar-laden one of non-stop junk food. The result is like giving an alcoholic a gallon of vodka. The kid goes crazy. To reinforce this drinking analogy, Gordon wakes James the morning after he falls asleep with a big bottle of soda on the sofa. Giving James a chocolate donut, Gordon tells him to have a bit of "the dog that bit you."

SEE SPOT RUN runs 1:34. It is rated PG for crude humor, language and comic violence and would be acceptable for all ages.

My son Jeffrey, almost 12, gave the picture ***. He said that he liked the dog and the plot. He commented that he particularly liked the way that they built the characters.

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