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# With dogged determination
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/wait-for-the-snap-in-evil/
- Published: 2006-03-10T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:20:44.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Events, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Little kids and ‘tweeners should warm to this remake of the 1959 Fred MacMurray vehicle (Disney’s first-ever live action flick), which has Tim Allen delivering an inspired performance as a dog-detesting DA who is magically transformed into a butt-sniffing mutt. Robert Downey Jr. is equally fun to watch as the mad scientist performing illegal tests on animals at the behest of a big bad pharmaceutical company. “Sex and the City’s” Kristin Davis is radiant as Allen’s loving, oft-neglected better half, and youngster Spencer Breslin comes through in the movie’s most chancy role — as Davis and Allen’s swishy “Grease”-loving son (about as “Brokeback” as the Mouse House is likely to get).

Anthropomorphic gags are predictable, yet undeniably charming. Allen is doggedly determined to get laughs, and manages to do so frequently scampering about on all fours, but what really makes his a winning performance is a surprising tenderness, particularly evident in a lump-in-the-throat scene with Davis at an anniversary dinner. Surely, Allen will be at the top of the list to star whenever they get around to remaking “The Ugly Dachsund.” (And they will!) (Rated PG. Running time: 98 minutes)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 10, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031006.pdf?ref=smdp.com)