Review of My Dog Skip

Introduction

My Dog Skip is based on the book of the same name by Willie Morris, an American author (and, incidentally, the youngest ever editor-in-chief of Harper’s Magazine). The film covers a formative summer (in Yazoo, Mississippi) in Morris’ life where he learns about life, loss, friendship and love with the help of his Jack Russell terrier, Skip.

The film isn’t really a beginning, middle and end type of story; rather it collects a series of snapshots from Willie’s life that, largely, revolve around Skip. Along with Willie, we get to meet Skip for the first time, we share in Willie’s first love (chaperoned by Skip) and his devastation when Skip appears to have gotten lost.

My Dog Skip is an old fashioned, sentimental story intended to appeal to the whole family and evokes (in a good way) memories of The Waltons and The Wonder Years. In short, it is the sort of film that probably doesn’t have a ready audience nowadays. Little seen in the cinema, it gets a second chance on DVD and it is well worth investigating.

Video

Presented in a 1.85:1 Anamorphic transfer, this is one of the best looking discs I have ever seen. Colour and detail are superb and it is impossible to find technical fault with the visuals.

Artistically, the film looks fine too. The South of the 1940s has been lovingly recreated and looks gorgeous. The small town feel is well captured and scenes set in the swamps are lush and evocative. Everything looks and feels real.

Kudos to Warner Bros for a superb transfer.

Audio

The disc sounds as good as it looks – rich and detailed. Sure, it is a small family film and doesn’t have the scope (or budget) for the expansive soundscapes of the blockbusters, but it still sounds excellent. Dialog is spot on. The score by William Ross is lush and sentimental and is accompanied by music of the day. This sounds rich and warm.

Also, spot effects aren’t neglected. Birds, crickets, the ambience of a baseball field – they’re all well represented. And, given that it is set in Mississippi, there is scope for some impressive thunderstorms and these sound great with some long deep rumbles.

Although it will never appear in a demo room, this is reference stuff.

Features

Essentially, there are three features - a set of deleted scenes with commentary by the director and two commentaries.

The first commentary is by director Jay Russell and it is quite fascinating. Russell obviously had a great time making the film and is proud of his achievement and it shows. He speaks enthusiastically about the film and the whole filmmaking process. This is easily one of the most entertaining commentaries I have heard in a while.

Commentary number two is from Frankie Muniz who plays Willie (and Malcolm from TV’s Malcolm in the Middle) and Mathilde DeCagney who was the animal trainer on the film. This is short – lasting only 30 minutes – and not particularly interesting; neither Frankie nor Mathilde have anything of any consequence to say.

The deleted scenes are worth watching once but they were deleted for good reason and there is little reason to revisit them.

Conclusion

This isn’t a film that is going to blow you out of your seat. Instead, with its quiet charm, it will keep you firmly rooted in your seat for every second of its 92 minutes.

The script, with echoes of Mark Twain and Charles Schultz, is nicely judged. It has enough entertainment to keep children interested and yet refuses to shy away from deeper issues for the adults such as the segregation that was prevalent in the Deep South at that time, tolerance and pacifism as being distinct from cowardice. It possibly doesn’t give these weightier issues the attention they deserve but it is, after all, family entertainment.

The direction by Jay Russell is light and assured, giving the talented cast room to develop their roles. And the cast is remarkably good. Muniz is assured as Willie and play his role with a maturity beyond his years.

However, the outstanding performances come from Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane as Willie’s parents. Bacon plays the stern but warm-hearted father with reserved dignity. Lane portrays Willie’s mother with a warmth and vitality that contrasts with and complements Bacon beautifully. The interplay between these two is the icing on an already rich cake. Lane as the warm and caring mother and the doubtlessly sensual wife lights up the screen. The scene where she talks Bacon into letting Willie keep Skip is a delight. She lovingly browbeats Bacon while smouldering at him, snatches his cigar, takes a puff and sashays off. Bacon is left sitting bewildered muttering, “But, I haven’t agreed to that”. Oh, I think he has.

Finally, there is Skip himself, a Jack Russell full of spirit and character. If Skip looks familiar, it is because he is played by Moose who also plays Eddie in Frasier. He steals every scene he appears in, whether it be drinking from the toilet (does every dog do that?) or appearing to drive the family truck down Yazoo Main Street.

All in all, this is a great film and worth of everybody’s attention. It is also a pretty decent disc. I hope it does better on DVD than in the cinema.