Paws (1997) User Reviews

Has a lot of problems but it is bright, breezy and good natured

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 3 March 2010]

This flawed but watchable family comedy means well and essentially it is bright, breezy and good natured. The script has its weak spots, Nathan Cavaleri is rather bland as Zac, the story is rather standard and the pace is uneven a little too rushed for my taste. But the film is enjoyable thanks to a cute and appealing little Jack Russell terrier named PC voiced brilliantly by Billy Connolly and some inspired physical comedy and action. It is nicely filmed and the direction is not that bad. Sandy Gore has fun as villainess Anya too.

Overall, "Paws" has a lot of problems but it is a harmless and fun family film. I will say if you want a more adorable, heart warming and fun Australian family film I recommend "Napoleon". 6/10 Bethany Cox

Sunday Morning Movie, to Watch Only While Breakfast is Ready

[Juan_from_Bogota · 4/10 · 3 May 2007]

This movie, specially made for kids have been obviously inspired by Disney, some magic can be seen, but that magic will only work for child, and this will last only till breakfast, because the movie is bad, not too bad but simply bad. You can spend some time with your kids but that's all!. The resemble to Cruella De Ville (101 Dalmatians) in Anja is so obvious that you'll get laugh, the old man expert on computers is funny and also weird, and the PC dog that's more intelligent than Einstein is also funny, this unbelievable plot hides a story of finding a treasure that literally bored me to the edge!. If someone have read this and suddenly turn the TV on and see this, i recommend that quickly change to Disney channel!. Some people said that they wanted to see this movie because Billy Connolly made the dog's voice. Really?, who want to see a movie for a voice?, i won't and actually i have never listen "hey let's see Finding Nemo, there's Albert Brooks voice in it!", i saw it a shiny Sunday morning just before breakfast on TNT, and that's it!, no excuses.

ABOUT THE MOVIE: PC is Alex's (Norman Kaye) dog, Alex is an old man that loves computers (you can said so because of the dog's name), and who has hidden 1 million dollars from Anja (Sandy Gore) an evil old witch (aka Cruella De Ville); Alex left the clues to find the money on a disk that send to his friend Susie (Caroline Guillmer) with his dog just before dying. PC finds some troubles giving the disk to Susie and ends on her neighbor's house, where a boy, Zac (Nathan Cavaleri) take the disk, but also finds that PC is a dog expert with the computers, they create a software that made the dog talk by some type of mechanism (this is where the long expected voice of Billy Connolly appears!), they join forces also with Susie's friend Samantha (Emilie Francois) in order to find this million dollar before Anja does. In this they face some funny and entertaining situations trough the movie.

4/10! and sorry i have to go, breakfast is ready.

Paws

[jboothmillard · 2/10 · 30 April 2007]

When I heard that a great Scottish comedian was voicing the canine hero of this film, I was quite looking forward to seeing what it is like. Unfortunately, it is not what I hoped for, in terms of a talking animals film also. Basically PC the dog witnessed the villain, French wig-wearing Samantha (Emilie François) killing his master, who in his dying moments tells him to take a disk with him. PC finds a place to hide in the house of a moved family, with son Zac (Nathan Cavaleri). But PC still can't tell anyone what has happened, so he learns to type onto a computer keyboard and speak. Zac decides to make this ability more accessible by putting a special growl translating speaker in a bow tie so that PC can talk, with the voice of Billy Connolly. The film until towards the end (well, that is bad as well) just has mucking about and too much chat. In the end, the disk reveals a treasure, that Samantha is looking for, and it has a stupid location. The only good thing about this film is Billy Connolly voicing the dog, other than that, it is absolute rubbish. Pretty poor!

No real laughs, no story and too much pressure to put on Connolly to deliver without giving him much to work with

[bob the moo · 6 February 2006]

Alex may seem like a perfectly ordinary old man but the fact that he knows the whereabouts of a stolen $1 million fortune means he is more interesting than he seems. When the wicked Anja come to force him to reveal his secrets one way or another, Alex saves the details to a floppy disk, puts it on his dog PC and sends him off to deliver the disk to Susie. On the way PC is hit by a car and ends up in the house of Zac and his family and unable to complete his mission. However PC is no ordinary dog and this should hopefully be no more than a bit of a setback when he works out how to get Zac's computer to make him speak.

Having just watching one Billy Connolly film where he took money for very little effort, I decided to watch another one in Paws. The story is a mishmash children's film where the whole joke appears to be that the dog can talk. The plot is a strange affair where a sub-par Cruella de Ville chases information squirreled away on a floppy disk carried by a dog; quite what is on the disk and what the point of it all is will be of little importance to child viewers and even less to adult viewers because it often takes second billing to the fact that the dog can talk. You see, this is a film about a talking dog – I know I have said that three times already but it bares repeating because that is what the film is built on. This is maybe enough to satisfy children because it does produce some laughs and slapstick comedy but it certainly will not do anything for adults or older children because it doesn't have anything other than the occasional funny line.

This puts a lot of weight on Connolly's shoulders and mostly he cannot carry it. With a voice over that sounds remote from the on screen action and a "computer software" gimmick that saves the film doing lip morphing on the dog, Connolly essentially plays his stand-up character except with all the swearing and laughs cut out. Here and there he is funny but mostly the material isn't there for him. The rest of the cast don't do much; Cavaleri is bland and uninspiring, Francois is obvious and the majority of the adult cast just mug along. Gore marks herself out by showing that Glen Close was actually pretty good in the Dalmatians films – or at least she cannot be easily copied.

Overall this is a so-so kids movie but barely. The laughs are thin on the ground for all age groups and the plot can safely be ignored by audiences just as it was by the writers, which leaves the studio-bound Connolly carrying the bag, which he can't do with the material given to work with. Nothing special then and certainly not a film worth seeking out for your kids when there are much better things out there.

Keep this away from America.

[MegaX · 3/10 · 25 June 1999]

I just saw this movie on my Satellite box, and let me tell you, this is as horrible as it gets. The dog in this film was cute, but the budget of $3 for this film made it terrible. Computer inaccuracies, horrible comedy, and fake slapstick are not desired by me. I wouldn't call this a "Great Aussie Masterpiece", but is a good movie for little kids, and sure hope that any Australian adults did not find this movie entertaining. This movie is also a bit of a bad example for children (e.g. the kid tells his step-father to "Go to hell").

Not bad...

[p.muscat · 7/10 · 6 January 2001]

The person who wrote in from Sleepyville seems to have been doing just that during this movie... sleep! I mean, if the great Billy Connolly's witty vocal delivery didn't keep him wide awake and laughing out loud, I don't know what would! True, the movie is one for kids mainly and there are a lot of inaccuracies, but it all evolves around Connolly's sterling work on the vocals. Not bad movie at all, enhanced all the more by Billy Connolly, the Scot of the Anarcich.

Another Great Aussie Film

[Andypoo · 9/10 · 7 June 1999]

Nice to see another great Australian film come out of our film industry. Acting was quite good for some unrecognised Australian(?) actors and an outstanding performance by comedian Billy Connolly.

This is the second great animal flick to come out of Australia in recent years. Napoleon (1995) being the other.

A very good, unfortunately underrated film.

[stuart_drake4 · 9/10 · 1 December 2005]

PAWS is a generally great film. It, of course, has its bad points. But THE EXORCIST and other classics weren't perfect either. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be comparing a gruesome horror movie to a funny, Australian yarn. But I have, and that's that.

The movie follows a dog called P.C., which leaves me wondering why the movie was named PAWS. Nevertheless, the dog is named P.C. and is owned by a man called Alex. He knows the whereabouts of one million dollars, so surprisingly scary Anja raids his apartment to get it. Alex sees her coming and hides the answer on a disk - which he then gives to P.C. The dog scampers off, beginning a quest to find Susie, who apparently needs the disk. Unfortunately, he's hit by Susie's new neighbour's car and needs to get her the disk without dying, and all the associated pain and suffering this usually causes.

The acting is generally good. Zac could use a few acting lessons, and his little sister is enough to send you on a murderous rampage. One thing that really twits me: The Australian accents. God, I am an Australian myself (my profile tells lies)and even I find them annoying. Thank god Samantha sounds like a Brit. Hooray for the English!

But then, we have some relief from the Australians in the form of Billy Connolly voicing P.C. However they got Billy Connolly to voice a character in such a small Australian movie I don't know, but anyway. How can a dog talk, you may wonder? He doesn't, actually. Zac the computer genius rigs him up with a special microphone that can understand his whimpers and barks, which then transfers them to a speaker which is hidden in a stylish (cough) orange bow tie. Surprisingly Sci-fi for such a movie, but what do you expect?

The answer to the money's whereabouts will keep you guessing right until the end - and even then you will be wondering how in the hell they characters figured it out. A great movie - very underrated.

Watch with the kids and get ready for a laugh.

the 'villainess'

[thieflord09 · 20 May 2010]

Is it just me or did she sound like ET in the beginning? I don't like to make fun of people, but... holy crap. ET. I swear. Is she TRYING to sound ridiculous?

The dog's pretty cute though. lol I was impressed by all of the things it did.

The whole 'talking' thing is more than a stretch, but oh well. The electronics were a little dated, but what can you do? The odd music when PC first 'speaks' is.. interesting lol. The constant rowling and making other noises to speak was cute.

I suppose it was a tad cute. I was amused by all the stuff Billy Connolly was saying as PC.