Snow Dogs

Classic Disney fare, this is a feel good movie. It was a good choice for both the Thanksgiving weekend visiting adults and a 7-year-old girl. She liked the lead dog, Demon, maybe because she likes to growl.

The protagonist is a Miami Dentist, who discovers late in life that he is adopted. The screenplay treats the adoption positively on all counts, explaining during the course of the drama how it happened, why it happened and why it was successful.

Key characters are a brother, the parents, a combination attorney, justice of the peace and bush pilot and, of course, the girl. The first half of the story has catchy one-line jokes for adults, pratfalls for the kids and improbable experiences in the snow. Some of the camera shots must have been taken in Alaska because they are gorgeous. The last half of the story has the adventure, the heroics and the happy ending.

Yes its silly, and most of what you see could never happen, but you have to remember that kids are the target audience. And its even good for adults to suspend their rigid belief systems once in a while and go with the fantasy.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays Ted, the dentist. He has performed in a range of roles and he handles the comedy and the adventure in this film without getting in its way. I was impressed by his performance in Men of Honor (2001).

James Coburn plays Thunder Jack Johnson. This was one of two films he did in 2002 just before his death at age 74. Coburn was a Hollywood icon performing more than 100 roles over a span of 44 years. I saw him most recently in The Man from Elysian Fields (2001) but I wont ever forget his powerful performance as the abusing father in Affliction (1997).

Reviewed November 28, 2003