''See Spot Run'' is a 2001 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

John Whitesell John Patrick Whitesell is an American television and film director. He has directed numerous films such as '' Calendar Girl'', '' Big Momma's House 2'' and '' Holidate''. He started his career as a film director in 1993. Early life and education ...

and starring

David Arquette David Arquette (; born September 8, 1971) is an American actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Arquette's breakout came with his starring role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film '' Scream'' (1996), a role which he later reprised i ...

Michael Clarke Duncan Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He is best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...

Leslie Bibb Leslie Louise Bibb (born November 17, 1973) is an American actress and model. Bibb began her career with minor roles in television, including the crime drama series '' The Big Easy'' (1997). For her role as Brooke McQueen on the WB Network teen ...

Joe Viterelli Joseph Viterelli (March 10, 1937 – January 28, 2004) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Italian-American mobsters. He gained widespread recognition for portraying Jelly in '' Analyze This'' (1999) and ''Analyze That'' (2002). ...

, Angus Jones,

Anthony Anderson Anthony Anderson (born August 15, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is known for his leading roles in television shows such as Andre "Dre" Johnson on the comedy series ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022), Marlin Boulet on the ...

Steve Schirripa Steven Ralph Schirripa ( ; born September 3, 1957) is an American actor. He is regularly credited as Steven R. Schirripa, including his total of over 300 total appearances in three long running series, playing: Bobby Bacala on ''The Sopranos''; ...

, and

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

. It is about a mailman who takes in a stray bullmastiff, the

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

Spot, only to discover he is a trained

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

dog who escaped from a witness protection program and is targeted for attacking a crime boss. It released to mostly negative reviews but was a moderate box office success.

Plot

Agent 11 is a crime-fighting bullmastiff used by the FBI; he partners with his master, Murdoch, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. As they go after the Mafia boss, Sonny Talia, Agent 11 attacks him and rips off one of his

testicle A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is Homology (biology), homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of Androgen, androgens, p ...

s. Sonny is taken to the hospital to have it surgically replaced. As payback, he sends his two bodyguards, Gino and Arliss, to kill Agent 11. For protection, Agent 11 is sent to a training facility in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. After Agent 11 escapes from Sonny's henchmen who were about to kill him, he meets Gordon Smith, who works as a mailman. Gordon dislikes dogs and has volunteered to take care of James McGuire, the young son of his neighbor, Stephanie, who has left in a hurry to go on a business trip. Gino and Arliss have continued their search for Agent 11, whom James names "Spot." Agent 11 does not want to catch balls or Frisbees because Murdoch told him not to play when he was a puppy, but he eventually starts to do so with Gordon and James like a normal dog. Later, Gino and Arliss try to kill him while he is with Gordon and James at a pet store, but he outsmarts them. When the FBI finds out that Spot is living with Gordon, they take him back. He escapes and finds Gordon and James again. Sonny returns and attempts to kill him, but is outsmarted, captured, and imprisoned. Meanwhile, Stephanie's flight is cancelled and she is forced to come back home. Whilst making her way back home, she is drenched in mud, splashed with dirty pothole water and farted on by a zebra whilst holding a lit match. The FBI agents try to take Spot back, but in the end, they decide to let him choose with whom he wants to live. He chooses Gordon and James, although he gives Murdoch a goodbye lick. A filthy and slightly burnt Stephanie returns and is very upset with Gordon for what had happened, but James convinces her that Gordon is a good guy, and they end up together. One of the film's last scenes is of Sonny in prison, his testicles having been replaced by metal balls (the other one having also been ripped off by Spot) that constantly clack together. One inmate calls him "Music Man", and he threatens, in a higher voice, "I'm gonna catch you in the yard. We're gonna settle this man to man!"

Cast

as Gordon Smith * Angus T. Jones as James McGuire *

as Murdoch *

as Sonny Talia *

as Stephanie McGuire *

as Benny Washington *

Sarah-Jane Redmond Sarah-Jane Redmond is a British actress and acting coach, living in Canada, whose work has spanned film, television and theatre productions, often in science fiction roles. She has taught acting at the New Image College of Fine Arts in British Co ...

as Agent Sharp *

as Gino Vacco * Francisco Gattorno as Rodrigo *

as Arliss Donato *

César Évora César Évora Díaz (; born November 4, 1959) is a Cuban- Mexican actor. Biography Évora started his career in Cuba appearing in more than ten movies before moving to Mexico in the early 1990s. He became known for playing minor roles in the ...

as Gabriel * Kavan Smith as Ricky * Kim Hawthorne as Cassavettes

Production

''See Spot Run'' was entirely shot in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

from June 12 to August 7, 2000.

Reception

The film received negative reviews.

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports a score of 24% based on 76 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's consensus states that it "has all the elements children enjoy in a movie: a lovable dog, bad things happening to stupid adults, and lots of dog poop. For adults, it's either hit-or-miss". On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film holds a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 24 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film 1 1/2 out of 4 stars. Nell Minow of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

was concerned about the movie’s excessive use of adult humor in a PG rated movie as described "Too dumb and too vulgar for anyone".

Home media

''See Spot Run'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

on August 28, 2001.

Soundtrack

Atomic Dog "Atomic Dog" is a song by George Clinton, released by Capitol Records in December 1982, as the second and final single from his studio album, ''Computer Games'' (1982). It became the P-Funk collective's last to reach #1 on the U.S. R&B Chart. ...

" - George Clinton #" Can't Smile Without You" -

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

#" Bust a Move" -

Young MC Marvin Young (born May 10, 1967), better known by his stage name Young M.C., is an American rapper, singer and actor. He is best known for his 1989 hit " Bust a Move". His debut album '' Stone Cold Rhymin found international acclaim. Young h ...

#"Dog" - Milo Z #" At Last" -

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

#" Mr. Sandman" -

The Chordettes The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit singles " Mr. Sandman" and " Lollipop", both of which sold over a million copies. Career The group organized i ...

#" Hampster Dance" - Hampton the Hampster #" For Once in My Life" -

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

#" As Long as You're Loving Me" -

Vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

Box office

The film opened at #3 at the North American box office making $9.7 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

in its opening weekend, behind ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

'' and ''

The Mexican ''The Mexican'' is a 2001 American romantic crime comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski. The film stars Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, with James Gandolfini, Bob Balaban, J. K. Simmons, and Gene Hackman in supporting roles. It tells th ...

'', the latter of which opened at the top spot. Despite this, it was a success and went on to gross over $43 million worldwide, in part because the film featured the first trailer for the already-heavily-anticipated ''

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the '' Harry Potter'' series and was Rowling's debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who dis ...

''.

References

External links

* {{John Whitesell 2000s American films 2000s children's comedy films 2000s English-language films 2001 children's films 2001 comedy films 2001 films American children's comedy films American Sign Language films Films about dogs Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films about the United States Postal Service Films about witness protection Films directed by John Whitesell Films produced by Robert Simonds Films scored by John Debney Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Craig Titley Village Roadshow Pictures films Warner Bros. films