'Secret Life of Pets' review: Even the poop jokes are smart
Dogs and cats living together equals mass hysteria, and adding in lizards and pigs hijacking cars turns everyday situations entertainingly nutty in The Secret Life of Pets.
Animals’ seemingly mundane existences spawn high adventure and constant action in the animated comedy (*** out of four; rated PG; in theaters nationwide Friday), where even the jokes about dog poop and rabbit droppings are surprisingly smart. Directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney, Secret Life anchors itself on an oh-so-familiar concept but sparkles most when imagining some of its crazier shenanigans, such as a poodle headbanging to heavy metal or a dachshund using an electric mixer as a scratching device.
A terrier named Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) lives the sweet life in Manhattan with his loving owner Katie (Ellie Kemper). When she’s gone to work, he hangs with a posse of friends including Pomeranian love interest Gidget (Jenny Slate), forever-lost guinea pig Norman (Renaud) and chubby kitty Chloe (Lake Bell).
His reality gets rocked when Katie brings home an oversized mutt named Duke (Eric Stonestreet), whom Max deems “the death of all good things.” Soon, the duo are on their own when they run afoul of freakish feline Ozone (Steve Coogan) and Snowball (Kevin Hart), a cute and very psychotic bunny who detests any “scent of domestication” and heads up an underground movement to take down mankind.
The way home for Max and Duke involves avoiding pesky animal-control guys, hopping a ferry to Brooklyn and enjoying a heavenly fever dream at a sausage factory — think Oscar Mayer meets Busby Berkeley. The story meanders in spots, especially when Max’s pals get embroiled in the chaos, but closes strong as the two figure out they’re not just man’s best friend but also each other’s.
The sheer number of crazy critters will keep the littlest audience members enthralled. The hawk Tiberius (Albert Brooks) is in great need of a mission, Pops (Dana Carvey) steals quite a few scenes as an aging basset hound on wheels, and there are miscellaneous hamsters, snakes and alligators, who all add lively details to the busy plot.
Parents, though, will appreciate the clever screenplay by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio and Brian Lynch that taps into the nature of these beasts. Chloe is winningly passive aggressive — as any self-respecting cat would be — and Snowball lets Hart tap into the high-energy vocal antics of his live-action work that somehow seem more natural coming out of the mouth of a cartoon rabbit.
Secret Life also subtly weaves in how much a pet means to its owner and vice versa, and in quasi-Pixar fashion reminds that there’s nothing like that love, especially when things go absolutely to the dogs.