Owen Wilson & Emma Stone

"If you're a teenager and the world doesn't fit you, you're totally hosed."

And if you're making a movie about a chatty, teenaged Great Dane, you might as well give him the voice of Owen Wilson.

 

"Marmaduke," the comic strip about life with a 200-pound canine, earns a dull but harmless big-screen comedy aimed at the youngest moviegoers.

Got kids? Be thankful this isn't in pricey 3D. And be thrilled that unlike "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," nobody will want to stop at the pet store and pick up a Great Dane on the way home.

Wilson, who narrates and chats up his fellow members of the House-pet Kingdom thanks to digital assistance, gives the first 15 minutes of this a light touch, detailing his life with his owner, "Dr. No" he calls him (Lee Pace, not funny), Dr. No's wife (Judy Greer, given nothing funny to do) and "the other two-leggers," a boy he calls a "padawan," a teen sister and a toddler.

Then, in a stunning development, this Kansas family moves to Southern California, land of sun, surfing and status-conscious dog parks. Poor Marmaduke has to find "a new leash on life."

"It's like high school, for dogs," explains Mazie (Emma Stone), the streetwise Queensland Heeler. The dog park cliques include airhead blondes (Afghan hounds), bullied small fries (dachshunds, Chinese Cresteds) and mutts.

The pedigreed top dogs are led by the bully Bosco (Kiefer Sutherland), a Rottweiler-ish beast who surfs and keeps his collie girlfriend, Jezebel (Fergie, the singer, not the bribe-solicitor), under his paw.

Marmaduke has to establish his place in the pack, learn to surf, help "Dr. No" get in good with his boss (William H. Macy) and figure out who his real friends are.

Even by talking-critter comedy standards, Marmaduke lacks mirth and imagination. Casting Wilson, fresh off "Marley & Me" (he wasn't the dog in that one) and George Lopez (playing his pal, the house cat) of "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" is no stretch. A dogs-trash-the-house scene is standard stuff, and the SoCal dog surfing setting is just Hollywood geographical myopia.

Director Tom "Failure to Launch" Dey's film recycles the "pay attention to your kids the way your dog does" message from "The Shaggy Dog." But then, bad puns ("Cow-a-bark-a") are what pass for screenwriting here.

 

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"Marmaduke" Movie Trailer

 

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MPAA rating: PG (for some rude humor and language).

Running time: 1:27.

Cast: The voices of Owen Wilson (Marmaduke); Emma Stone (Mazie); and George Lopez (Carlos); with Lee Pace (Phil Winslow); Judy Greer (Debbie Winslow); and William H. Macy (Don Twombly).

Credits: Directed and produced by Tom Dey; written by Tim Rasmussen and Vince DiMeglio. A 20th Century Fox release.