SEE SPOT RUN

SEE SPOT RUN is a ditzy slapstick comedy that promotes responsibility, maturity and judging people fairly. It contains some scatological bathroom humor, however, that will concern parents, especially those with young children.

David Arquette of READY TO RUMBLE stars as a young mailman named Gordon, who has problems delivering mail to one of the streets along his route, a dog-infested neighborhood. After running the gauntlet on Bleeker Street, Gordon goes home to his apartment building, where he stops by to visit a young blonde woman named Stephanie across the hall. Gordon tries to make time with Stephanie, but she’s more interested in the neighborhood policeman. So, Gordon gives her young son, James, the stuffed dog which Gordon’s mailman friend used to play a practical joke on Gordon.

Meanwhile, a local crime boss, played by Paul Sorvino, has put a contract out on Agent 11, a crime fighting dog from the FBI who’s been a thorn in his side. Agent Murdoch, the dog’s partner (played by Michael Clarke Duncan of THE GREEN MILE), learns about the hit. FBI officials decide to transfer the dog temporarily to Alaska to protect him. The gangsters learn about the transfer and try to kill Agent 11 again, but the dog escapes.

The day before the dog’s escape, Stephanie needs to leave town for a business trip, but the babysitter is late. She agrees to let Gordon watch James for 10 minutes until the babysitter arrives, but the sitter calls Gordon to say she can’t make it because she’s got food poisoning. Gordon and James are left to their own devices, while Stephanie’s business trip becomes a nightmare due to a snowstorm.

The next day, Gordon decides to take James along on his mail route. Agent 11 hides out in the truck, unknown to Gordon. James develops an immediate liking to the dog. Gordon can’t bring himself to drop the dog off at the pound, so he takes him home. Further comical shenanigans ensue as the gangsters continue to search for the dog, Murdoch learns of the dog’s escape, and Stephanie tries to get back home before Gordon’s irresponsibility endangers her son. What they all fail to realize, however, is that Gordon, James and Agent 11, who Gordon names Spot, are developing a bond that no one can break.

Despite some scatological humor and mild foul language, SEE SPOT RUN has a generally positive, good-natured worldview. Things end happily, of course, and Stephanie learns that Gordon successfully protected her son, with a little help from Agent 11 a.k.a. Spot, of course. Thus, although Gordon learns maturity and responsibility, Stephanie learns she needs to judge people more fairly and to stop taking everything so seriously.

Parents may also be concerned, however, about one scene where Gordon feeds James some sugary cereals for breakfast, against Stephanie’s dietary wishes for her son. Gordon learns his lesson, however, when James starts acting up with all the sugar inside him from the cereal. James even starts banging away on Gordon’s stereo system, or “Tower of Power” as Gordon calls it.

Thus, parents of younger children may not want them to see this movie. Whether young or old, however, media wisdom requires discernment in all cases.