Yes, it's time for another "boy and his dog" flick, and following in the footsteps of such films ranging from "Lassie" to "Air Bud," we now get "My Dog Skip." A well-crafted and fairly enjoyable - if increasingly episodic - throwback to family films of yesteryear, the picture is based on Willie Morris' 1995 memoir about growing up in WWII era Mississippi.
Headlined by the extremely personable Frankie Muniz ("Lost & Found," TV's "Malcolm in the Middle"), who delivers a performance that's nothing short of winning, along with Harry Connick, Jr. voicing the character as a retrospective adult narrator, the film should play equally well to older kids and nostalgia-craving adults.
The latter will probably enjoy the film's old-fashioned appeal, what with its lush cinematography - courtesy of James L. Carter ("One False Move," "Destiny Turns on the Radio") - and production design - from David Bomba ("Body Shots," the HBO movie, "Gia") - and storytelling technique that's all but extinct in most of today's youth-based films. The kids, on the other hand, will probably easily identify with the universal joys and tribulations of growing up, and most likely will enjoy the antics of Skip, played by a series of look-alike pooches trained by Matilde DeCagney and William S. Grisco.
That said, the film does have some problems and the first one directly relates to that title character. While plenty of misgivings are usually overlooked or at least tolerated to some extent in kids' films, the dog is obviously too much of a gimmick here. Of course, that's not uncommon in kid-based productions featuring dogs, but any time Skip runs, jumps or otherwise springs into action here, it feels a bit too much like a plot device rather than a natural occurrence.
That, when tied to the "life lessons" such actions are supposed to represent and William Ross' ("My Fellow Americans," "The Evening Star") occasionally over manipulative and on the cue score give the film an artificial and somewhat forced feel. While kids won't mind - as such moments play right into their sensibilities, fears and wishes - adults might have a bit harder of a time swallowing such chunks without choking. While it's not a horrible or debilitating problem, things do seem to work better when the dog's not around or at least is relegated to the background. Of course, and not surprisingly, there isn't a plethora of such moments.
Other problems are also present, however, although their severity in relation to one's enjoyment of the film obviously depends on the viewer's age, level of film critique and overall mood. For starters, the film relies perhaps a bit too much in its voice over narration to explain events (seen and unseen) and to fill in gaps between scenes. Fortunately, it's not terribly overused and one can cut that element some slack since it's a traditional component of kid-based stories and films. It also helps that segment of the audience more easily follow what's occurring on the screen.
A bit harder to accept or forgive is the film's increasingly episodic nature. Of course, if one is to look at the proceedings from a literal sense, one's childhood memories from a half century ago are bound to be scattered at best and the film does have to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Even so, and despite the overriding "life lessons" and accompanying small collection of subplots that manage to keep things moving along, they lack the necessary cohesiveness to give the film the proper momentum it needs and deserves (such as was the case in Warner's under-appreciated "The Iron Giant" - a unique spin on the boy/dog story).
The filmmakers, director Jay Russell ("End of the Line") and screenwriter Gail Gilchriest (marking her writing debut), also near entirely jettison two of the film's biggest assets -- Kevin Bacon ("Stir of Echoes," "Footloose") and Diane Lane ("A Walk on the Moon," "Murder at 1600"), who play the boy's overprotective and concerned parents respectively. While it's understood that the story will naturally be focused on the boy and his dog, some of the film's best, but unfortunately sparse moments involve the talented performers and their interaction with Muniz's character.
Other performances are generally okay, including the likes of Luke Wilson ("Blue Streak," "Home Fries") as the hometown star athlete who returns from war a changed man, and Caitlin Wachs ("The Next Best Thing," "Shiloh Season") who's just as cute as a button as Willie's "girlfriend." Yet, their and other performer's characters are often either abandoned or simply not developed that well (including bits about the town's black population that come off as sporadic at best).
Then there's the content factor. While the film is appropriately rated PG, many parents are apt to see the flashing "family film" insignia and rent/buy this for their kids - regardless of their age. While, for the most part, there isn't anything horribly offensive - although the scene featuring a bootlegger clocking the pooch with a shovel (mostly off-screen) is a bit much - it's too bad that the filmmakers and/or studios are so afraid of the G rating that they include enough material to bump the film up one rating notch.
With the omission of the profanity and a toning down of some of the material, the film could have had the same overall effect, but with a lowered and more family friendly rating. Despite the fact that some of the biggest grossing films of all time have been rated G, those responsible for these sorts of films continue in their incorrect belief that PG is better than G (I now officially step down from my rarely used soapbox).
None of that's meant to imply that the film is horribly flawed or that viewers won't enjoy or even be affected by the proceedings. Quite the contrary, it's highly likely that at least some viewers and critics will gush over the film, and rightly so, at least for certain parts of it.
The performances from the leads are first rate, the dog is cute and obviously well trained, and the film simply oozes the appropriate old-time feel. Unfortunately and at least as far as adult viewers are concerned, however, the manipulative strings are too easy to spot and the story comes off feeling more like a series of remembered vignettes than a cohesive and well-structured tale. While none of that's a horrible sin and kids probably won't mind, the film should have been better.
The presentation on DVD, however, couldn't have been much better. Both the audio and picture are top-notch, while the supplemental materials includes not one, but two running audio commentaries and a handful of deleted scenes, all of which add some entertaining insight into the making of this film.
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