Air
Bud (1997)
This likable
Disney fare harkens back to the glory days of the studio
and brings us a live action film with a lot of heart
and plenty of chuckles. The piece, of course, is aided
by an amazing animal, Buddy, a dog who shots baskets.
And while this could be a silly, farcical, kiddie film,
it instead becomes a sweet and enduring story that the
whole family can enjoy and cheer for.
The film
centers on Kevin Zegers, who plays Josh, a quiet and
grief stricken young man who has just lost his father.
It's neat that not only the dog but also a black man,
his basketball coach (Bill Cobbs), step up to fill the
void the death has left. Kevin finds Buddy, the dog,
after a mean clown (literally) Michael Jeter abandons
him. Jeter returns later in the film after Zegers has
made a bit of a celebrity out of the pooch.
The whole
first hour of the film is handled quite nicely with
Director Charles Martin Smith taking plenty of time
to allow the script by Paul Tamasy and Aaron Mendelsohn
to unfold. This is the beauty of the film. We get to
see the boy and the dog forge their friendship and it
really lets us into the emotions and undercurrents going
on here. We learn to love both the boy and the pooch
and this allows us to care what happens and to easily
suspend disbelief and enjoy the second half of the film.
This later
part of the film gets a bit soapy and a bit contrived
but it's all in good fun and by this time we're happy
to let it go. We are even joyous when the dog actually
gets to play basketball for real as a part of the team,
even though we know this is silly and could never really
happen. We don't even mind the typical court scene that
ends the film. It's all for the love of the kid and
the dog and you can't argue with that.
"Air Bud"
is one of the best kid's films you'll get a chance to
see. It's a bit thick with the syrup at times but who
cares. This is Disney fare like we grew up with tempered
with an emotional base straight out of the 90's. It's
easy to sit back and enjoy it.
Notes:
Also with
Wendy Makkena as the mom, Eric Christmas as the judge,
Jay Brazeau as the humorous ref, and Brendan Fletcher
as the local bad-ass who gets his comeuppance, Larry
Willingham.
Music by
Brahm Wenger.
Kevin DeCicco
who conceived of the film and who is also Buddy's trainer
also played the second ref.
At one
time the film was to be called "MVP - Most Valuable
Pooch."
Review
written in 1998.
More
of Lodger's reviews indexed alphabetically! Just click
your favorite letter to go there.
a
b c
d e
f g
h i
j k
l m
n o
p q
r s
t u
v w
x y
z
HOME
|
In
Association with:
|
Posters From!
|
|
Please Visit
|
|
