Critical response
Old Dogs was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 5%, based on 110 reviews, with an average rating of 2.70/10. The site's consensus reads, "Its cast tries hard, but Old Dogs is a predictable, nearly witless attempt at physical comedy and moral uplift that misses the mark on both counts." [5] The film was ranked number three on their list of the ten most moldy films of 2009. [6] At Metacritic, Old Dogs received an aggregated rating of 19 out of 100, based on 22 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike." [7] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average rating of "B+". [8]
Film critic Roger Ebert gave Old Dogs a rating of one star out of a possible four. [9] Ebert opened his review commenting, "Old Dogs is stupefying [sic] dimwitted. What were John Travolta and Robin Williams thinking of? Apparently their agents weren't perceptive enough to smell the screenplay in its advanced state of decomposition". [9]
The Salt Lake Tribune gave Old Dogs a rating of zero stars out of a possible four, and criticized the film for "hammy acting and sledgehammer editing". [10] Film critic Roger Moore of The Orlando Sentinel gave Old Dogs a rating of one and a half stars out of a possible four. [11] "Trashing Old Dogs is a bit like kicking a puppy. But here goes. The new comedy from some of the folks who brought us Wild Hogs is badly written and broadly acted, shamelessly manipulative and not above stopping by the toilet for a laugh or two," wrote Moore. [11]
Bill Goodykoontz of The Star Press gave the film a critical review, and commented, "Old Dogs, which stars Robin Williams and John Travolta as a couple of aging bachelors who suddenly have twins thrust upon them, delivers everything you’d expect. Which is: not much." [12] He concluded his review with, "Let’s hope Williams, Travolta and the rest got a fabulous payday for Old Dogs. Because otherwise, you know, woof." [12] In a review for The Arizona Republic , Goodykoontz gave the film a rating of one and a half stars out of a possible five. [13]
Writing for the San Jose Mercury News in an analysis of movies released around Thanksgiving, Randy Myers placed Old Dogs below "The Scraps: Leftovers that should be immediately placed in Fido's bowl." [14] Myers commented, "We have a winner in the Thanksgiving movie turkey contest." [14] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote, "Too bad this shrilly tuned comedy doesn't demand more than clock-punching effort from everyone involved." [15] Tim Robey of The Telegraph savaged the film, saying, "Old Dogs is so singularly dreadful it halts time, folds space and plays havoc with the very notion of the self." [16] He added, "Being a film critic is a wonderful job, but there are weeks when the bad film delirium strikes and we’d all be better off in straitjackets. A colleague opined to me the other day that this might be the deadliest run of releases in his 20-year history on the job, and I can completely see that." He also said, "You'd have to hate your family to take them to this!" He gave the film zero stars.
Writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer , Carrie Rickey gave the film a rating of two and a half stars out of four. [17] Rickey commented of the multiple cameos in the film, "A child of 5 can see that these brief appearances serve to pad a gauze-thin script." [17] The review concluded, "Old Dogs may not be good. But the sight of pesky penguins pecking Travolta and Green in the embrace of an unlikely partner makes it just good enough." [17] Pete Hammond of Boxoffice gave the film 3/5 stars, and concluded, "Old Dogs may not reach the box office heights of Wild Hogs but its fun family friendly attitude should guarantee a healthy holiday haul." [18]
Box office
On its first day, Old Dogs opened in fifth place, with a take of $3.1 million. [19] [20] It was beat in box office results by New Moon , The Blind Side , 2012 , and Ninja Assassin . [19] [20] The film came in fourth in its second day with $4.1 million, for a two-day pickup of $7.2 million. [21] The film remained in fourth place for its third day, with a box office take of $6.8 million. [22] Overall, the film grossed $96,753,696 worldwide on a budget of $35,000,000. [23]
The movie was also a moderate success on DVD, gaining more than $20,000,000 domestically during its first two months of release. [24]
