A lovely romp with 'My Dog Skip'

Run to the theater, family in tow, to buy tickets, and perhaps Hollywood will give us more movies like this: an elegantly sentimental, refreshingly simple film with a great story and a warm heart.

By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 3, 2000

My Dog Skip made my eyes teary in the first minute and left me sobbing into my hands when the end credits rolled. This movie is so full of heart, so genuine in its purity, that I wouldn't trust anyone who can leave the theater with dry eyes.

Take it as a dare, if you wish. Mature, family-friendly films such as My Dog Skip, rare as they are, must sell tickets so studios will try it again. Director Jay Russell proves Hollywood can make 'em like it used to, with a superb human interest story in an innocent setting, without the rough elements of contemporary cinema.

My Dog Skip is an elegantly sentimental film based on the Deep South childhood memoirs of Willie Morris, who later became Mississippi's first Rhodes scholar and a respected magazine editor. The late author always credited that maturation to his dog Skip, adopted in the summer of '42. Skip didn't do anything special, just acted as a friend to a kid who needed one.

The movie traces this inspirational bond with nostalgic episodes recalling the high jinks, scalawags and racial curiosity of Willie's favorite book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Through his devoted dog, Willie connects with a distant father, enjoys his first crush, finds peer acceptance and discovers his emotional limitations in impetuous moments. Skip is Willie's Mississippi River, an excuse to take chances changing his life.

Russell lovingly handles the material, with a simplicity that seems somehow cleansing in this hectic film era. Everything feels authentic for the era, from the rural Yazoo City setting to quaint manners of matrons and villains alike. My Dog Skip occasionally invites comparison to To Kill a Mockingbird for its coming-of-age dramatics and maple syrup goodness.

Frankie Muniz (TV's Malcolm in the Middle) never makes a false acting move as Willie. Muniz goes beyond a haircut and costuming to tap into the awkward marvel children used to know. His eyes shine with hero worship for a neighbor gone to war (Luke Wilson) and dim with respectful embarrassment when a birthday gift is taken away or a ground ball goes through his legs. Muniz is the real deal among child actors.

Kevin Bacon adds to the production's class with a terse portrayal of Willie's stern father, who protests Skip coming into his home. "Dogs are a heartbreak waiting to happen," says a man who already had his, losing a leg in battle. Bacon maintains our sympathy even when the role calls for callous action, balanced well by Diane Lane's steady maternal presence.

Even the dog performance is pleasantly understated. Skip is played by Moose, the Jack Russell terrier co-star of TV's Frasier. There aren't any stupid pet tricks or many cheesy reactions to a trainer holding dog biscuits off-camera. Skip is an everydog, making his friendly aura around Yazoo City, which even crosses racial lines, seem more heroic. "Everything was segregated back then," Willie says, through Harry Connick Jr.'s warm narration, "but we all know dogs are smarter than people."

My Dog Skip ambles through Willie's youth like a puppy chasing scents, first this way, and then the other. The plot doesn't proceed as much as it digresses into colorful misadventures with bully dares, patriotic games, slingshot violence and the kind of crises that seemed like the end of the world when you were 9 years old. At least, they did in 1942 and not enough years beyond. The love behind this movie, however, is timeless.

My Dog Skip

• Grade: A
• Director: Jay Russell
• Cast: Frankie Muniz, Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson, Moose the dog, voice of Harry Connick Jr.
• Screenplay: Gail Gilchriest
• Rating: PG; animal cruelty, crude words
• Running time: 95 min.