See Spot Run Reviews

A brainy police dog falls in with a moronic mailman and an annoying tyke in this formulaic children's comedy. Agent 11 is the pride of the FBI and the bane of mafioso Sonny Talia's (Paul Sorvino) life. Not only has he cost Talia millions in illicit business, but he actually bit off one of Sonny's privates, which would be nastier if Agent 11 weren't a dog. Talia orders a hit on Agent 11, whose doting partner (Michael Clarke Duncan) agrees to send the beast — an imposing bull mastiff whose wrinkled brow makes it look as though he's perpetually pondering the world's problems — into protective custody. But the plan goes awry and the pooch eludes Talia's bumbling hitmen (Joe Viterelli, Steven R. Schirripa) by taking refuge in a mail truck driven by dog-hating postal worker Gordon Smith (David Arquette). The only reason Agent 11 doesn't get the immediate heave-ho is that he charms fat-faced moppet James (Angus T. Jones), who's riding with Gordon because, through a series of unconvincing comic contrivances, Gordon is babysitting while James's babelicious mom (Leslie Bibb) is away on business. Gordon wants James to put in a good word with mom, so he'll do anything to make nice — even put up with the pooch James dubs "Spot." Fart, feces and gonad gags notwithstanding, this knockabout comedy is no more vulgar than most contemporary children's films, and more good-natured than many. Its inevitable sticky center involves Gordon's conversion into responsible daddy material: He was an orphan, you see, and can't help that he lives like an overgrown 11-year-old because, sob, no one ever cared enough to tell him to pick up his room. And kudos to the extended comic sequence — in which Gordon winds up "covered in caca" — for being played out in front of a "Please Clean Up After Your Dog" sign. There's a message we can get behind.