A family film for an era when "family film" means scatological jokes, gratuitous violence, and shapeless storytelling, See Spot Run is about par for the course. Punctuated by many a lowbrow moment (scenes of combustible zebra flatulence, for instance), Spot has trouble staying true to its major story line despite the latter's redeeming qualities. That story concerns an FBI-trained bull mastiff who flees the wrath of a mobster (Paul Sorvino) and ends up in the care of a pooch-averse postman (David Arquette) and the latter's little neighbor (Angus T. Jones). With a nutball like Arquette in the lead (and vigorous support work from comic Anthony Anderson of Me, Myself, and Irene), the antics come fast and furious, including a wild bit of slapstick in which Arquette simultaneously gets his head stuck in a fishbowl and his body densely wrapped in helium-inflated plastic. On the other hand, there's a touching simplicity to the relationship between man and canine, each of whom has been terribly lonely in his own way. Sure, the filmmakers went for some cheap laughs, but there is much else here that is harder-earned. --Tom Keogh
2.
Gordon Smith, (Arquette) is an offbeat mailman who has never met a dog he couldn't handle. When he offers to baby-sit James (Jones), the young son of his beautiful neighbor Stephanie (Bibb), he's hoping she'll return his romantic interest. A hard working single mom, Stephanie thinks Gordon is just an overgrown kid himself but circumstances force her to leave James with him, temporarily, while she is away on business.
Meanwhile in another part of town, an FBI agent named Murdoch, (Clarke Duncan) is trying desperately to find his runaway canine partner, Agent Eleven (Bob) who has escaped from protective custody. Thanks to the super dog’s drug detecting abilities, he has incurred the wrath of local mobster kingpin Sonny Talia (Sorvino) who has put out a contract on the four footed fed.
Luckily, Agent Eleven is a lot faster and smarter than Talia’s two inept henchmen Gino (Viterelli) and Arliss (Schirripa), so they aren’t having much luck. They lose the trail completely when the dog seeks refuge in Gordon’s mail truck, where he is promptly adopted by James, who names him "Spot."
Gordon is not exactly a dog lover, especially after having to use his ingenuity to fight off the mailman-hating mutts on his harrowing Bleeker St. postal route. Armed with a variety of ingenuous devices, Gordon enters the combat zone and emerges victorious, if not exactly unscathed. Back at the post office, his colleague and good buddy Benny (Anderson) is always ready to commiserate and offer advice to Gordon about his job and his love life. Meanwhile Stephanie is having her own set of unbelievable adventures trying to get back home, thanks to a freak snowstorm.
Spot appears to be nothing but trouble so Gordon tries to persuade Angus to give him up. Instead he finds both the kid and the pooch beginning to grow on him. When the mobsters catch up to them at the local pet store, all heck breaks lose. As the fur, fish and feathers start to fly, Spot finally gets to show his true colors.
By the time Stephanie returns home to find her son and Gordon remarkably transformed, Agent Murdoch has shown up to reclaim his dog. The final decision is up to Spot but the lives he has touched will never be the same.
3.
As a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, Gordon (David Arquette) prides himself on his ability to handle any canine crisis. Gifted, alert and armed with specially designed gadgetry, Gordon is a dog commando.
But the day he offers to baby-sit his beautiful neighbor's (Leslie Bibb) son, Gordon meets his match: a crime fighting super dog who has just escaped from a witness protection program with local mobsters and his owner, FBI agent Murdock (Michael Clarke Duncan), in his pursuit. The runaway canine seeks refuge in Gordon's mail truck.
4.
The Smart One Isn't Wearing Any Pants.
Offbeat mailman Gordon Smith has never met a dog he couldn't handle, but when he offers to baby-sit James, the young son of his beautiful neighbor Stephanie, his dog skills are put to the test! When a crime-fighting superdog hiding from the Mob befriends James, he drives our "dog-loving" mailman up a tree, dodges the Mob and wins the hearts of the good guys along the way. See Spot Run straight into the hearts of families everywhere.
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