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Don't Believe the Hype

A Major Disappointment

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Disney plumbs the depths of their overrated animation and creates a one hundred minute commercial for their dalmatian products.Glenn Close perfectly embodies Cruella DeVil. She is the fashion designing boss of Anita (Joely Richardson). Roger (Jeff Daniels) has a dalmatian, like Anita, but he is unsuccessful as a video game designer- living in that hotbed of video game designing- London.Anita and Roger meet overly cute, and their dogs Pongo (his) and Perdy (hers) fall in love, too. Anita and Roger marry, and get pregnant. Pongo and Perdy marry, and get pregnant. Poor Perdy squeezes out fifteen puppies, under the watchful, slumming eye of Joan Plowright, playing Nanny.Cruella returns and offers to buy the puppies. She was inspired by one of Anita's designs and plans to make a giant fur coat out of dalmatian puppies. She and her henchmen have been collecting puppies, and these final fifteen will give her her frock. Anita and Roger do not sell.The puppies are dognapped by henchmen Jasper (Hugh Laurie) and Horace (Mark Williams), who look exactly like their animated counterparts from the better Disney film. The very long finale is one giant rescue scene, as the puppies are helped by other animals to escape, with Cruella, the henchmen, and a psychotic mute taxidermist named Skinner (John Shrapnel) on their collective tails.Screenwriter John Hughes apes his "Home Alone" ingredient of having grown men injured by cute creatures so often, I though I was watching an unofficial sequel. Director Stephen Herek is no Chris Columbus, however. While Columbus can direct (usually), Herek is all over the place, not quite sure what he should be capturing in order to double over the audience with laughter. The scene where Anita and Roger meet after wrecking their bikes thanks to their runaway dogs is milked for all it is worth and runs way too long. The editing is not tight, as Herek switches back and forth between multiple cameras, and capturing extreme close-ups of "funny business" instead of just letting the actors be funny.Daniels and Richardson get lost in the shuffle, making no impression on the audience whatsoever. Glenn Close is just right for the part, with some amazing costumes and hair, but she seems reined in as well. The film makers cannot decide if their audience is innocent children or their tired parents. Some of the dialogue is harsh, like the villains' plans for the puppies, but that is offset by sugar coating too many scenes (including the finale).There are also a couple of clips from other Disney films in the movie, but this does not seem like an inside joke so much as free advertising for other Disney videos.In the end, "101 Dalmatians" fails to deliver on its intent. Close almost breaks free from the shackles of marketing mediocrity, but the real loser here is the audience. The puppies are adorable as hell, though.

Prior to 1996, Stephen Herek had directed three of the most dissimilar movies: "Critters", "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Mr. Holland's Opus" (he also directed "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead", which I haven't seen). Therefore, it was a surprise to see him direct a live-action adaptation of "101 Dalmatians".Since we already know the plot, the movie itself isn't that much of a treat. Even so, you gotta love Glenn Close's over-the-top performance as the fur-obsessed Cruella DeVil. Close plays her more as a self-aggrandizing megalomaniac than an evil thug. The rest of the cast isn't as impressive in their performances, but we see some good people here. We all know Jeff Daniels. Joely Richardson is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave; her sister Natasha married Liam Neeson but died in a skiing accident in 2009. Joan Plowright is a classically trained actress who was married to Laurence Olivier from 1961 until his death. Hugh Laurie is best known as TV's Dr. House. Mark Williams is now known as Ron Weasley's dad in the Harry Potter movies. Tim McInnerny is now known for the role of Lord Robett Glover on "Game of Thrones".It'll be an OK thing to let the tykes watch if you need to keep them entertained for a brief period. The "Home Alone"-style mishaps rained upon Jasper and Horace will hold their attention. I doubt that anyone else will enjoy it that much.

101 Dalmatians (1996): Dir: Stephen Herek / Cast: Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Joan Plowright, Hugh Laurie: Pathetic live action version of the animated Disney classic is a complete failure with lavish production. It regards quantity as these dogs band together to survive. Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson own two Dalmatians that give birth to fifteen pups and the evil Cruella DeVil wishes to make fur coats out of them. The dogs are a disappointment since they do not talk as they did in the animation. One would think that after the success of Babe that this wouldn't be a problem. This film contains none of the suspense or detail of the animated classic, which makes the plot here seem very basic. It was as if the makers thought that making a live version was enough but without those important details of the animation it just comes off as bland with only an effective villain to carry it. Director Stephen Herek doesn't heed details from the animation. This ranks with The Mighty Ducks as among Herek's worst efforts. Glenn Close steals the film with her icy performance as DeVil making her the film's best asset. Daniels and Richardson sleepwalk through bland roles with Joan Plowright as their maid. Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams play the idiotic henchmen nabbing the dogs. It is yet another bad adaptation that turns into a big budget dog show. Score: 2 ½ / 10

I can remember clear as day when I was eight and my sister and I begged my dad to buy this on VHS for us. We were in a "puppies are so cute" phase, which long ago faded (I now hate dogs and think they're disgusting, dirty animals). Nevertheless, we watched it and were both shocked at how bad it was! Don't get me wrong, the actors were amazing despite the pathetic storyline. Glenn Close provides an outstanding performance as the antagonistic businesswoman who thrives on conspicuous consumption and adores wearing a variety of fur coats. The soundtrack wasn't bad. But the plot was terrible, it was like watching a twisted romance film, and the crude humor was gross and unnecessary (dogs peeing on magazines, etc). The names of the characters are sort of clever but still unoriginal and it's Disney, so of course it's that hokey "puppy love" garbage.As I got older and checked out the movie online, I was surprised to discover that the dogs used in the movie were not treated in compliance with the animal cruelty prevention laws set in place at the time of filming. That's Disney for ya, too cheap to take care of its live animals on-set but rich enough to pay people to shut up.I highly recommend you avoid this one, it's incredibly lame and dorky, not to mention inappropriate for younger children at times. If you're into dog movies, try Beethoven, it's dopey but at least it's funny most of the time.