The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

For this installment of our journey through the featured Letterboxd Lists we are taking a look at box office hits. That’s right, we’re looking at the Box Office Mojo All Time 100 list (not adjusted for inflation). As of this writing, this movie sits at number 75 and that movie is…The Secret Life of Pets (2016).

Title: The Secret Life of Pets

Director: Chris Renaud

Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes

Released: June 16, 2016 (France – Festival International du Film d’Animation d’Annecy)

Available to stream on: Peacock

Max (Louis C.K.) loves his life as a pampered city dog. He lives with his human, Katie (Ellie Kemper), in New York City and they do everything together. Well, almost everything.

Naturally, there are times when Katie needs to leave Max behind; as she goes to work, runs errands, and goes anywhere that just isn’t pet friendly. When Max is home alone, he patiently waits for Katie to return. While he waits, Max interacts with the neighborhood pets. One such pet, Gidget (‎Jenny Slate), loves chatting with Max and even has a crush on him.

All seems well in Max’s life, that is until the day he learns he has a brother now. Katie comes home one day and surprises Max with Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Instantly Max’s entire world is turned upside down. Duke is considerably larger than Max and wastes no time in establishing himself as the alpha. He steals Max’s bed, eats his food, and strikes genuine fear into Max.

Max decides to try and trash the apartment, knowing Katie won’t blame him as he’s never been destructive. His goal is that Katie will be so furious with Duke that she takes him back. Well, as a result of their hijinks and horseplay, both Max and Duke find themselves on the city streets. Furious with Max’s actions, Duke tries to abandon Max in an alley.

Unfortunately, they encounter some alley cats who, instead of roughing them up, swipe their collars. As you would expect, next thing you know they are scooped up by animal control.

Finding themselves now in even greater of a predicament, how will Max and Duke find their way back to Katie’s?

Have you ever wondered what your pet is up to when you’re not at home? Of course you have, we all have. Shoot, if I could, I’d text my dog and see what he’s up to when I’m not at home.

The Secret Life of Pets (2016) has an absolutely stacked cast of voice actors ranging from Louis C.K. (he’s good in this role but through 2024 eyes…yikes), Jenny Slate, Albert Brooks, Kevin Hart, Eric Stonestreet, Steve Coogan, and the list goes on. Each character gets their time to shine and each actor delivers.

I liked the animation style and the casting of each character. When you can picture the actor as the animated character they’re portraying, from mannerisms and character traits, it only elevates things.

Yes, there’s humor here, but there’s an overabundance of it. So much so, that it starts to feel like a constant stream of one gag after another. For what it’s worth, there’s also some surprisingly emotional moments sprinkled in. However, the biggest downfall of The Secret Life of Pets (2016) is that it’s just easily forgettable.

Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. But when you try to stack this up against a Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story, Shrek, etc., this doesn’t even come close to being in the same conversation.

That being said, will I watch the sequel? Probably, yeah.

Will I recommend that you watch The Secret Life of Pets (2016) if you haven’t already? You bet.

So, if you have seen The Secret Life of Pets (2016), let me hear it!

Tell me what you thought of it in the comments below or on social media!

To see what else I’ve been watching, give me a follow over on Letterboxd.