Written by: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, Brian Lynch
Starring: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey
Rating: [3/5]
As humans head out to work every day dealing with the daily struggle of bringing in money to sustain their lifestyle we all leave our pets behind. Often we wonder what in the world they do all day as they await for us to return. Well, Secret Life of Pets seeks to answer that very question, and as a result, we get a middling but modestly entertaining feature film.
Following his daily routine of waiting for his owner to come home, Max (Louis C.K.), learns there is a new member of the family in another dog named Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Angry at the idea of having to share a space with a new dog, the pair find themselves in the hands of animal control and the wild world of stray animals as they try to get back home.
Sometimes all you need is a good idea to drive home a movie. Similar to the thoughts kids have of what their toys do when they are away as explored in Toy Story, this feature does the same with pets. Truly something that has gone through my mind to the point I personally have thought of putting in a camera to see exactly what my dog does whenever my wife and I head out. This idea also gets into the mindset of what animals think humans do when we leave for the day or an evening. A sense of abandonment and no comprehension as to why we consciously decide to leave them behind. Again, fascinating idea but the execution comes together as generic and flatly displayed as one could surmise from this studio when it comes to their animation. They have been accused of being lazy in their animated filmmaking and outside of the brilliant idea, the criticism continues to hold merit.
Several scenes throughout the film exemplify everything wrong with the way some animated films aim to placate children that it gets absolutely ridiculous to an extent in an unenjoyable way. Many of the gags fail to land and several moments simply do not work other than trying to deliver the same fart humor over and over again with these animals. That dominates much of the film, but it succeeds when it gets into the minds of these animals and the genuine fear they have in regard to the world around them.
One of the adversaries appearing in the feature for Max are “the Flushed Pets,” a group of animals abandoned by humans and have developed a sworn hatred because of it. You can certainly understand why these animals would feel this way and it continues to explain why they have fear of other humans when the only other interaction they have with them comes in the form of animal control trying to collect them all. This makes an ultimately treacherous road for both Max and Duke as they traverse this new road, especially the former as a completely domesticated animal only knowing one home throughout his existence.
As with many animated films of this era, this feature comes with quite a collection of voice talents to bring these animals to life. Some are obvious and others surprise and stand out like Albert Brooks, Hannibal Buress, and Tara Strong. Not much work to put in and a decent check for each of them so I cannot necessarily complain. The cast as a whole does a decent enough job even if many of them could have easily been replaced and the film would not have missed even the slightest of beats, which can honestly be said for most films put out by this studio in this day and age.
Buoyed by a strong concept but minimally enjoyable execution, The Secret Life of Pets will do its job in entertaining for its brief runtime but leaves not much on the backend to take on as a whole. It does what it came to do but leaves much to be desired when it comes to the actual animation and comedy on display. The kids will surely enjoy this film for what it provides and it will make you think twice about the shenanigans your pets get into while you’re away. Well, not really.
Films with Josh 
