Firehouse Dog

It's a dog's life for A-list Irish terrier Rexxx. Kobe beef is his meat of choice while a poodle harem is just one of the perks of the celebrity life.

(He's the sort of prima-doggy - the star of Jurassic Bark and The Fast & The Furrier - who gets quizzed about the existence of a tape featuring him and Paris Hilton's Chihuahua).

However, the good life comes to earth with a bump when Rexxx falls out of an aeroplane during a stunt for his latest blockbuster.

Miraculously landing in a truck-load of tomatoes(!), he finds himself living rough on the streets where he runs into 12-year-old Shane (Hutcherson), the son of single-dad and firehouse captain Bruce Greenwood.

An initially reluctant Shane finds himself saddled with the superstar mutt after his dad's crew Engine 55 rescues Rexxx from the roof of a blazing building.

However, the pooch proves his worth when he digs out a fellow firefighter trapped in a collapsing construction site and he's adopted as the firehouse mascot.

After the clever dick animation of Cats & Dogs and the knowing humour of Shrek and The Incredibles, this actually pans out as refreshing return to non-ironic, nuts'n'bolts kids' fare.

Hutcherson, in particular, is a very watchable child star, delivering lines that would have most adolescents reaching for the sick bag in a convincingly deadpan manner.

It helps that Greenwood - one of the most reliable supporting actors in Hollywood - is on hand to lend some gravitas to the role of his dad.

Issues of paternal responsibility and pre-pubescent rebellion are lightly touched on and there's a wealth of peripherary characters including a fireman who may just be gay and a glamour puss rival fire captain (she's got a dinky line in pink reflective chevrons on her jacket).

At the end of the shift, it’s the tale of the flatulent hound with a tidiness obsession that will prove the draw.

Think Lassie up a (fire) ladder.

Tim Evans