The Secret Life of Pets

Set in Manhattan, this animated adventure explores the concept of what your pets might be doing when you're gone for the day. It all begins when Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper) disrupts the domestic tranquility of her beloved Jack Russell terrier Max (Louis C.K.) by bringing home a huge, shaggy mutt named Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Resentful over Duke's desire for dominance, caustic Max turns instead to Chloe (Lake Bell), the neighbor's Russian blue tabby, along with his close circle of canine pals, including the pug Mel (Bobby Moynihan), dachshund Buddy (Hannibal Buress), and fluffy white Pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate), who has a major crush on Max. But when their dog-walker becomes distracted in the park, Duke takes off, clutching Max's leash in his mouth. Soon, they've fallen into the clutches of a manic, streetwise rabbit named Snowball (Kevin Hart), who is the vindictive leader of the Flushed Pets, a group of resentful, sewer-dwelling animals who loathe the humans who abandoned them. Worried that Max is missing, Gidget enlists help from Tiberius (Albert Brooks), a predatory hawk, and they eventually wind up in Brooklyn with Pops (Dana Carvey), an elderly, partially-paralyzed bassett hound, who knows his way around better than anyone else. Directors Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney anthropomorphize and sentimentalize the four-pawed characters, but while the action pieces are often diverting, the redundant animal-catcher chases grow tedious. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include three mini-movies (12 min.) and a “making-of” featurette on the mini-movies (8 min.), the production featurettes “The Humans That Brought You Pets” (9 min.), “All About the Pets” (7 min.), “Animals Can Talk: Meet the Actors” (4 min.), and “Hairstylist to the Dogs” (4 min.), a brief “The Best of Snowball” segment, a “Lovely Day” lyric video, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the behind-the-scenes segments “Anatomy of a Scene” (5 min.) and “How to Make an Animated Film” (4 min.), as well as bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so animated film.] (S. Granger)