Benji tries to open the latch on his mother’s cage at the kennel, leading to one of the movie’s more heartwarming scenes.
Joe Camp doesn't try to teach new tricks to an old dog in Benji: Off the Leash!, the fourth in the series since the cuddly mutt first appeared 30 years ago. Aside from modern vehicles, a slightly tougher edge and a prop or two, Camp's new version could be mistaken for being from the same era.
The first Benji flick was an anomaly in 1974, when a G rating was the kiss of death at box offices. Now that family entertainment is back in style, nobody can blame Camp for trotting out his cash dog for another adventure. Benji: Off the Leash! is tame for today's tastes, even a bit creaky in some spots, but it's a decent way for families to bond through cinema - or home video, where it should appear any day now.
Like any good actor, Benji (i.e. the female dog hired for the gig) slips into a character, this one named "Puppy" by Colby Hatchett (Nick Whitaker), the son of an illegal dog breeder. Puppy must be kept away from Dad (Chris Kendrick), who deems him (her?) worthless due to mixed breeding. Colby keeps Puppy in an elaborate hideaway for a year before his father finds out.
Meanwhile, another puppy (Shaggy) is dumped by the roadside just in time for two dim-witted animal control officers (Randall Newsome and Duane Stephens) to see. They begin tracking the dog they dub "Lizard Tongue" for obvious reasons. Mostly, the dumb duo is here to fall face first in mud and be shot accidentally with tranquilizer darts for juvenile comic effect.
The dogcatchers want Lizard Tongue, but they would also like to bust Colby's dad for inhumane breeding practices. The parallel stories mingle for a while, interrupted on occasion by an old man down the road who talks to thin air, and a few animal-friendly folks doing their jobs. The whole movie is about as deep as Benji's water dish.
But it's a refreshing kind of blandness, and certainly one to be praised for sticking to its pop guns and working clean. Nothing in the movie is particularly heart-rending, nor is anything especially dull. As always, the best moments go to the dogs.
There's a scene in which Puppy is rescuing his sickly mother from Hatchett's kennel and she's too weak to continue. "Mom," Benji says, "You have to get up. You must pull yourself together, just like you always told me to do. I love you, Mom, and I want you to live!"
Well, to be honest, what Puppy says is more like: "Yap, yap, yip, yap." But what matters is the way Camp puts their thoughts in our heads. Not with computer-generated mouth movements and celebrity voiceovers, but a combination of well-placed cameras, superbly trained animals and a musical score that isn't shy about telling the audience how to feel. It's old-fashioned, but it still works.
Benji: Off the Leash!
Grade: C+
Director: Joe Camp
Cast: Benji, Shaggy, Nick Whitaker, Chris Kendrick, Randall Newsome, Duane Stephens, Nate Bynum
Screenplay: Joe Camp
Rating: PG; mild animal abuse, domestic problems and language
