| By Malcolm Ritter The comedy "See Spot Run" is rated PG, meaning parental guidance is suggested. Parents, here's some guidance: This is another smart-animal-meets-clueless-adults movie. Only two characters seem capable of taking charge of the action here: One is a mob boss and the other is a dog. Kids probably will enjoy the movie because bad things happen to silly grown-ups over and over again. They get electrocuted quite colorfully by a dog collar (without apparent injury); they serve as human fire hydrants when dogs need to relieve themselves; they slip in dog poop; and they survive an explosion caused by lighting a flame behind a flatulent zebra. Older kids no doubt will understand the gag in which the hero dog knocks down the main bad guy, then proceeds to chew off some of the man's, um, private parts. Twice. That's the sort of thing you and the kids are in for with this movie. You might hope for some redeeming value in the plot, which raises the possibility that a twentysomething slacker might mature enough to take on the responsibilities of fatherhood. That's hinted at, but frankly, he doesn't seem to make it past the stage of entertaining big brother. Spot is a 100-pound, drug-sniffing bull mastiff who's a superstar FBI agent. The dog becomes the sworn enemy of mob boss Sonny Talia (Paul Sorvino), who sends two bumbling hitmen (Steven Schirripa and Joe Viterelli) to take care of the pooch. Spot hides out with mailman Gordon Smith (David Arquette), who views dogs as a professional hazard. But Gordon agrees to keep Spot as a favor to 6-year-old James, the son of his love interest, single mom Stephanie (Leslie Bibb of the WB's "Popular"). Stephanie, against her better judgment, leaves James in Gordon's care while she goes off on a business trip. She knows Gordon is too laid-back and freewheeling to follow her rigid ideas about parenting, but she's late for her flight and desperate. She's also right, of course. Gordon and James soon find themselves in the middle of the hapless hitmen's pursuit of Spot. That leads to the best scene in the movie, when the four humans and Spot trash a pet-supply store as part of the chase. It all works out fine, of course, and in the process, Gordon and James give Spot the first family love he's ever known. So what will Spot do? Stay as a pet, or return to the FBI and his overly devoted human partner (Michael Clarke Duncan, from "The Green Mile")? Spot, having gotten in touch with his inner pooch, makes his own choice. Surrounded by a group of humans like this, he is wise to handle it himself. "See Spot Run" is the first feature film from director John Whitesell, who has directed episodes of sitcoms including "Roseanne" and "Coach." It took three people to come up with the script: Christian Faber, Dan Baron and George Gallo, whose last offering, "Double Take," was about the same quality as this. | 
