Old Dogs is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Walt Becker and starring John Travolta and Robin Williams with an ensemble supporting cast played by Kelly Preston, Matt Dillon, Justin Long, Seth Green, Rita Wilson, Dax Shepard, Lori Loughlin, and Bernie Mac. It was released in theaters on November 25, 2009 and it was released on March 9, 2010 on DVD.
The movie is dedicated to both Mac (who died in August 2008 and had his final acting role in the film) and Jett Travolta (John Travolta and Kelly Preston's son who died in January 2009). The film was panned by critics, but grossed $96.8 million worldwide on a $35 million budget. At the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony, Old Dogs was nominated in four categories: Worst Picture, Worst Actor for John Travolta, Worst Supporting Actress for Kelly Preston and Worst Director for Walt Becker.
Canadian musician Bryan Adams wrote the theme song for the film, "You've Been a Friend to Me".
Plot
Dan Rayburn and Charlie Reed are best friends and co-owners of a successful sports marketing firm. Seven years prior, Dan, recently divorced, married Vicki after being whisked away by Charlie for a tropical vacation. The marriage, however, is short lived. Seven years later, Vicki resurfaces to tell him that their short marriage resulted in something he never suspected: twins Zach and Emily.
As Vicki is facing jail time for her work as an environmental activist, and her friend Jenna is hospitalized from a freak accident, she asks Dan to take care of the kids while she does her time. Thinking this might be his chance to get back with Vicki, Dan agrees, but only if Charlie helps him as neither have any experience taking care of kids. At the same time, they must finalize a huge marketing deal with a Japanese company, something they've always dreamed of, but will take all of their talents to clinch.
As Dan's condo does not allow children, they have to board with Charlie. Charlie and Dan's attempts to take care of the kids are well-intentioned, but very awkward. On a trip with the kids to an overnight camp, a hard-nosed camp instructor, Barry, becomes convinced that Dan and Charlie are homosexual partners. The trip ends after Dan accidentally sets a beloved statue of the camp's founder on fire.
The kids then proceed to spill and replace Charlie and Dan's prescriptions, mixing them up in the process. Dan then must play a game of golf with the Japanese executives while experiencing extreme side effects and Charlie tries to woo Amanda with a face frozen by the pills.
Desperate to help Dan communicate with the children despite his inexperience with children, Charlie recruits his friend Jimmy Lunchbox, a famous, flamboyant children's entertainer. Jimmy comes by and straps Dan and Charlie in motion controlled puppet suits so Charlie can help Dan make all the right moves with his daughter while having a tea party.
The suits malfunction, but Dan speaks from the heart, winning over Emily and making Jimmy emotional. Everything is great with Vicki as she returns home after serving her time. However, the guys have sealed their Japanese deal, sending junior associate Craig to Tokyo. When he goes missing after his arrival, Charlie and Dan must fly to Tokyo themselves to take his place. Dan must leave the kids and Vicki despite his and their desire to be a family.
Once in Tokyo, Dan realizes what he really wants is to be a good father. He leaves the meeting without sealing the deal, angering Charlie. Later, they make up and rush with Craig, who has returned from Tokyo, to Vermont for the kids' birthday party. They don't get into the Burlington Zoo in time and are forced to break in. However, they mistakenly wind up in the gorilla enclosure, in which they encounter an angry one. Though Dan and Charlie escape and are attacked by penguins, Craig is captured by the gorilla, which takes a strong liking to him as he sings All Out of Love.
Dan then pays a birthday party performer hired by Vicki to use his jet pack and suit, flies into the ceremony and wins over his kids again. When the jet pack stops working in mid-air, he falls into a lake and is taken to an ambulance on a stretcher. One year later, Dan and Vicki are together, Charlie has married Amanda, and Craig has become like a new "uncle" to the kids.