For a few minutes at least, FIREHOUSE DOG looks as if it might be a decent family film. The fire station in the movie is sort of educational, the dog is certainly cute enough and actors Bruce Greenwood and Josh Hutcherson have a nice dynamic as a widowed workaholic father and his rebellious son. But then Fido poops in a cauldron of chili, and all bets are off. If there was a good idea at the core of this film, it's been buried in an unsightly pile of flatulence jokes, dog-related bad puns and a ridiculous serial arson plot. As the plot gets needlessly complicated, parents and other adult chaperones will be yearning for the simplicity of LASSIE - or even one of those straight-to-video AIR BUD sequels. (...) Perhaps worst of all, the movie is painfully long. At about two hours including the trailers, even the most toilet humor-loving youngsters in the audience are likely to be squirming in their seats.

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Supposedly a comedy about a Hollywood canine that finds love and companionship with a big city firehouse and its boy, FIREHOUSE DOG actually features four different stunt Irish terriers tricked up with computer-generated special effects that give them humanoid expressions and allow them to slide down firepoles. The effect is cute with a capital K and grotesque with a capital G, as though offscreen puppeteers were pulling digital wires to make the animals dance. FIREHOUSE DOG isn't quite the equivalent of the 1999 talking-infant bomb BABY GENIUSES, but at times it's close enough for discomfort. That's too bad, because the human scenes in FIREHOUSE DOG are perfectly acceptable on the level of a heartwarming family B-movie.

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It also is a wonder that director Todd Holland doesn't trust real dog tricks. There are plenty here, but mixed in are obviously phony ones accomplished with trick shots and editing. Claire-Dee Lim, Mike Werb and Michael Colleary's screenplay maximizes these dog stunts while barely managing a credible story. They do blow a chance, though, to explore the differences between real dogs and movie dogs, which might have made for good comedy. The human co-stars, which include Bill Nunn as the station's aggressively bad cook, Mayte Garcia as its super-athletic beauty and Teddy Sears as the put-upon rookie, have little choice but to let the movie go to the dogs as the canines upstage them at every turn. The Toronto-based production is bright and efficient without ever rising above the ordinary.

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FIREHOUSE DOG is more than a cute canine caper. What sets up as a furry version of DOC HOLLYWOOD quickly evolves into a father-son parable as Shane and his father struggle with the impending closure of the run-down station, a possible firebug and the emotional scars left after the recent death of Shane's uncle, the station's former captain. Rex, of course, helps every step of the way, but despite his physical and mental acumen, he's surprisingly devoid of personality. (...) Aside from Hutcherson, the film's other strength is its restraint. Holland lets Rex act as his own stunt dog, and the budding romantic relationship between Shane's father and a rival fire captain (Claudette Mink) isn't forced. The same can be said for the movie as a whole. Though it never completely catches fire, there's enough earnestness and warmth that makes it a welcome alternative in a family film arena dominated by computer animation and associated toy lines.

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