Bailey's Billion$ (2005)

I actually feel really bad for saying this. I love family movies, and the cast especially Tim Curry really intrigued me. Although the concept has been done to death, part of me thought it would be at least amusing and charming. However, apart from one or two half-decent things, as much as I wanted to like it, Bailey's Billion$ just didn't work for me.As I've said there are some things I liked. The best asset about it was the soundtrack, with classics such as the Carmen suite, a lovely instrumental of La Boheme's Quando M'en Vo and Nessun Dorma from Turandot as well as some upbeat contemporary songs, it was a joy to listen to. I loved the locations too, the editing could've been more fluid and tight, however the mansion and scenery were breathtaking. And the dogs were adorable, and Jon Lovitz while deserving of more to do does appeal as Bailey.However, I didn't like everything else. I wasn't impressed by the acting that much. Dean Cain and Laurie Holden are charming but their material is underwritten and their story uninteresting so they can't do much with them. The children also try hard, but their problems are similar, nothing in the writing is done to make them stand out more.I'm sorry to say that I also didn't think much of Jennifer Tilly and Tim Curry, and that saddens me because I like Tilly and have been a big fan of Curry for years now. True, they do have great chemistry together. The problem is while Cain and Holden are underused, Tilly and Curry are used too much. What's worse is they don't have much to work with. Both perform with gusto, but with mixed results.Curry's asides weren't sarcastic enough for my tastes, but he does make an effort with the delivery, that said I did find he did look embarrassed at some points in the film. Tilly though is much more problematic, now I accept that Dolores is a evilly over-the-top and shrill sort of character who likes to make out she's intelligent but she's not really, but nothing in the story or writing are done to go beyond that and Tilly, bless her heart, ends up over-doing it badly.I don't blame the cast really though for Bailey's Billion$ not working out. Three things especially don't work. One is the script, which I'd say is the main culprit. Overall, it was very dull and weak, with Casper and Dolores' many scenes together coming across as cheesy and overdone in particular. The courtroom scene had its moments and the beginning maintained interest, but that's it. The story just didn't engage me either, I found Bailey's Billion$ dully paced with too many predictable scenes that don't flow well from one scene to the next, the whole sequence with the attempt to kidnap Bailey was a prime example and it also didn't add anything new or fresh to the table.I didn't care for any of the characters either. Now it is not always a bad thing when the characters are clichéd, but it is when little or nothing is done to make the characters interesting, which sadly is the case with Bailey's Billion$. The direction also for my liking felt rather stodgy. Overall, I am so sorry but despite the soundtrack, locations, dogs and my love for Tim Curry, I didn't like Bailey's Billion$ at all. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Right now this movie is rated 4.0 on IMDb and judged strictly on its merits as a movie probably deserves that. But we watched it and got a lot of entertainment out of it. Here's why.I remember Dean Cain mostly from his role as Clark Kent and Superman in the "Lois and Clark" TV series. Here he plays dog whisperer Theodore Maxwell, almost like the Clark Kent character, not good with words and clumsy, especially around pretty women. But he has a special talent, he can speak to animals, particularly dogs, and he can understand what they are saying.The pretty woman is Laurie Holden as Marge Maggs and we recognize from the very beginning that they will have some sparks.Jennifer Tilly has been in lots of roles but I remember her particularly for playing the blind lady in "Music From Another Room", and marrying the Hispanic man names Jesus. Here she is the evil Dolores Pennington who is out to get all the wealth for herself.Tim Curry has also been in lots of movies, but I remember him most for the 1975 "Rocky Horror Picture Show." Here he is the partner in crime, Caspar Pennington.So I enjoyed the movie mostly for the actors, watching them do their thing in a mainly inconsequential movie. But there is a story.The rich old lady has died and in her video-recorded will names her faithful dog Bailey as the heir, with Maxwell as the dog's guardian and handler. Jon Lovitz is the voice of Bailey. But the evil Dolores and Caspar are scheming to get all the $$Billions for themselves, while running an illegal dog breeding mill on the side. It is up to Bailey and the others to expose this and make everything right.

Dean Cain has truly gone to the dogs - far from being a super man he has been hit with a different kind of Kryptonite as in K-9, in this picture, he plays a canine version of a "horse-whisperer" and is the sole character in this tale who understands a mutt (whose voice is played by Jon Lovitz, which was redeeming in the sense it was typecasting and therefore not as annoying as usual) that inherits a fortune and Tim Curry is the villain who tries to seize the loot for himself.Jennifer Tilly plays a role similar to what Valerie Perrine played in the first "Superman" movie with Christopher Reeve, the difference being that Valerie was a sultry ditzy vixen but Tilly played a simpering virago who pretends to be smart.Filmed in Canada and using Canadian court practices, this tale uses tried and true methods of previous films that use kids & canines - emphasis on the tried to the point of trying, as in too damn hard on a worn out old vehicle.The best way to watch this picture is if you have insomnia one night and need a natural tranquiliser, yawn!http://tinyurl.com/3464k/

When I first found out about this movie, I didn't think that I would like it because I have never enjoyed rated G movies. I find them childish and the ending is always about family love (yuk). But this one is different, its funny, entertaining, and I never wanted to take my eyes off the screen during the entire movie. Best of all, correct me if I am wrong, no one kissed in the movie. So I could sit back and enjoy the comedy without the weird feeling of romance. There's 2 things i didn't like. 1)Why not hire pros to do the kidnap? 2)Who would make the doors of an underground illegal business so easily found and even easier to open?