The first film became a huge hit and reignited the career for the lead actor who went on to star in Pulp Fiction, the second film just repeated the same format and was okay, I didn't have my hopes high for this third instalment in the trilogy. Basically, in New York, Christmas is approaching, and Mollie (Kirstie Alley) and James Ubriacco (John Travolta) are preparing for the holiday season with their young children, Mikey (David Gallagher) and Julie (Tabitha Lupien). Meanwhile, a mutt puppy (voiced by Danny DeVito) is on the run and living as a stray. One day, the puppy bumps into Mikey who is walking with Mollie, he likes the little boy and wants to go with him. Eventually the puppy is caught by dog handlers from an animal rescue centre, he taken into a kennel along with many other rescued dogs. James is a pilot and has been recently introduced to English businesswoman Samantha D'Bonne (Lysette Anthony) who has taken over the airline company and extends his trips to spend more time with him. Meanwhile Mollie is looking for a job after getting laid off. At the mall, Mikey tells the store Santa Claus (Ron Gabriel) that he wants a dog for Christmas, James feels the time has come to get one, and he tells Samantha about this. James takes Mikey to the animal rescue centre; they arrive just as the stray mutt puppy is about to be put down. The puppy recognises Mikey and James decides he wants to take him home; he names the dog Rocks. When the return home, Samantha is there, having already purchases a dog, a well-groomed and beautiful poodle named Daphne (voiced by Diane Keaton). Rocks and Daphne meet each other and do not get along. Rocks is messy and untrained while Daphne is well trained and spoiled. Daphne bonds with Julie, while Rocks gets on well with Mikey. But Rocks is testing Mollie's patience due to his behaviour, including leaving messes for her to clean up, and chewing various pairs of her shoes. Samantha continually asks James to fly various long trips, while Mollie is still looking for a job and taking care of the kids and the dogs. James and Mollie develop tensions over Samantha, as she is concerned that he is having an affair. James states he has faith in his wife and wants her to have faith in him. She agrees to trust him but is still distrustful of Samantha's intentions. Meanwhile, Mollie is becoming increasingly unhappy with Rocks' behaviour and declares a final strike; if he chews one more pair of her shoes, he will out! After another trip, both are in bed on opposite sides of the world and have dreams of the other being unfaithful. James and Mollie still love each other and miss each other while they are apart. As Mollie becomes more tired, Daphne realises that she needs to become more independent. Rocks helps Daphne to develop skills of her own, including opening the door and to use her sense of smell to track people and things. The two dogs start becoming friends. But Daphne previously deliberately chewed up Mollie's most valued pair of shoes, while she had a grudge against Rocks, in order to have him thrown out, but she cannot do anything when Mollie finds the shoes and feels guilty after Rocks is thrown out. However, Mollie has a change of heart when she sees how upset it makes Mikey, and she notices Daphne misses him as well. On Christmas Eve, Samantha tricks James into coming to fancy cabin in the woods, claiming she has a prospective client for him to meet. James cannot leave due to a severe snowstorm and calls Mollie to tell her that he cannot make it home for Christmas. Mollie learns that he is alone with Samantha and becomes worried he is going to cheat on her. Mollie's mother reassures her that if James truly loves her, he would never do that. Mollie drives through the storm with the children and dogs to "bring Christmas to Daddy". Their car gets stuck in the woods; they are attacked by wolves, but Rocks fights them and scares them away while his family are in the car. Daphne sets out to find help using the tracking skills that Rocks taught her. Rocks runs out to track down James and eventually finds Samantha's cabin. James finds him and realises that Mollie has set out to find him. He confronts Samantha about her intentions towards him and finally quits his job, then intends to leave with Rocks to find his family. Samantha tries to throw a vase at him, but he shuts the door. The wolves return and try to attack, but Rocks fights them off while James escapes. Meanwhile, Daphne finds forest rangers, who take Mollie and the kids to safety. James finds them at the cabin, and Rocks runs in after. James tells Mollie that if it wasn't for Rocks, he wouldn't have made it. James and Mollie carry Mikey and Julie to bed to wait for Santa to come. Also starring Olympia Dukakis as Rosie, George Segal as Albert, and Space Jam's Charles Barkley as himself, with the voices of Bob Bergen, Peter Iacangelo, Nick Jameson, and Patricia Parris. Travolta is fine as the father and husband, and gets another dance number, Alley is still likeable enough, Gallagher and Lupien are cute as the kids, while DeVito and Keaton are alright as the inner voices of the dogs. With the kids old enough to speak for themselves, there is no room for the voices of Bruce Willis or Roseanne Barr, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey was out the same years, months before, the producers probably just thought it was easier to nick the talking animals idea. Two talking dogs heard only by the audience, no matter how cute they are, can't rescue an already exhausted formula, the story is predictable and often annoying, the Christmas element doesn't add anything either, especially the ending credits with the horribly cheesy song "It's Christmas, C'est Noel" and montage, it's just an unamusing and pointless comedy. Adequate!
Review of Look Who's Talking Now
