Agent 11 is a crime-fighting bullmastiff used by the FBI; he partners with his master, Murdoch, in Seattle, Washington. As they go after the Mafia boss, Sonny Talia, Agent 11 attacks him and rips off one of his testicles. 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.
After Agent 11 escapes, 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One of the film's last scenes is of Sonny in prison, his testicles having been replaced by metal balls (the other one having also been ripped off by Spot) that constantly clack together.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!"
The film received negative reviews. Review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reports a score of 23% based on 77 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".[2] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 24 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[3] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[4]
Roger Ebert gave the film 1 1/2 out of 4 stars. Nell Minow of Common Sense Media 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".[5]
The film opened at #3 at the North American box office making $9.7 million USD in its opening weekend, behind Hannibal and The Mexican, 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.
