MARMADUKE

MARMADUKE (unrated, probably between PG & PG-13 for gross situations involving bodily functions):  Computer generated films are no guarantee to enliven unimaginative plots, yet screenwriters Vince DiMeglio & Tim Rasmussen seemed to think they could get away with it - and not at any time during its painfully unfunny 105-minutes do they succeed.

Marmaduke has been featured in a comic strip since 1954;  his charm lies in his nature - a huge, floppy dog that doesn't talk, just amuses with all the personality of what a dog is supposed to be to his human family.  Here, the script calls for everything cutsie, a conglomeration of all the things that made simpery animations popular on Saturday TV - but with one thing added:  constant references to gross vulgarities, right to the final scene.  Sound familiar?  Wonder why teens, then adults, buy such crap?  It begins here.  Even Owen Wilson doing the dog's voice  can't turn this series of pointless clichés and lame puns about "being off the leash," urine, feces & flatulence into something that would please neither the kids nor their parents.

Buy or rent a copy of something like "How to Train Your Dragon" & give the entire family something to really enjoy.  (Grade: D)