Beautiful, moving film.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

My Dog Skip (2000): Dir: Jay Russell / Cast: Frankie Muniz, Kevin Bacon, Luke Wilson, Diane Lane, Clint Howard: Family film about how a pet can teach children values in life. It teaches friendship, responsibility and the unavoidable awareness of death. It isn't for young children due to adult issues. It regards a dog Skip given to a boy on his birthday. Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane play his parents. Bacon received a Purple Heart having lost his leg in the war. Luke Wilson is cast as a football player called off to war and the impact it has on him when he returns. Fine setup becomes disjointed with an ending that may be too depressing for its intended audience. Directed by Jay Russell as a homage to Old Yeller and that is not a compliment. He details the relationships to render realism. Frankie Muniz as Skip's owner with great enthusiasm and energy. Bacon plays off the insecurity resulting in a war injury. Lane plays his wife who brings Skip home without prior approval. Wilson realizes that despite failures that Muniz still believes in him. Clint Howard makes an appearance as one of the villains that enter in an unnecessary subplot. This turns out very much as expected with a stern message in tact. Well crafted film that doesn't always work but it conveys a strong message regarding life and important things we overlook. This film should not be one of them. Score: 6 ½ / 10

I caught this on WGN and wound up watching it because out of 300+ channels on cable, there was nothing else worth watching. My first impression was formed by the syrupy background music that played almost continuously throughout the film. If it had lyrics, they would be, "Open up some Kleenex and just cry, cry, cry." I cried, all right, but for the wrong reasons. Any film that involves the use of animals inevitably includes harming said animals, and My Dog Skip was no exception. From the graphic hunting death of a deer to the verbal/physical abuse of the dog, this project could not have been pleasant for the title character, who out-acted all his human counterparts. Keep in mind the fact that movies are only fictional where people are concerned. Animals only experience it as real-life mistreatment that they cannot comprehend.The plot can be summarized in two words: Who cares? It's a coming-of-age tale about a boy named Willie and his terrier Skip in small-town 1940s Mississippi. Willie has growing pains. He has to contend with a stern father, the town bullies, his complete inability to play baseball, an inexplicable, mostly one-sided friendship with a WWII veteran who is painted as the town pariah, and a first love named Rivers, to whom we never find out what happens. Most of the characters are completely forgettable, and the narrative consists of loosely-pasted vignettes of a dreary childhood. I only saw this movie last night, and I don't remember much of anything except being surprised to learn that, in the c. 1945 South, white families could watch young black men playing baseball after dark. (Read Maya Angelou if you don't understand what I'm saying here.) A violent scene leaves the viewer feeling lousy, after which the story just peters out. We see Willie rowing his girlfriend on a pond--probably an allusion to his Rhodes scholarship, which requires athletic ability--and then he suddenly grows up and blows town, leaving the aging Skip all by himself. If the film's hypocritical concluding drivel doesn't make you want to throw up, then nothing ever can. Comparatively speaking, Old Yeller was more cherished than ol' Skip.I don't recommend this film to animal lovers of any age, particularly children, because they won't understand its conclusion. I'm not even sure that I do, if for no other reason than to wonder how in the hell a dimwit like Willie ever made it into Oxford.

Picturesque Yazoo, Mississippi in the summer of 1942 is where dog-eared Frankie Muniz (as Willie Morris) celebrates his ninth birthday. Pretty mom Diane Lane (as Ellen) has the perfect gift for her lonely son, an only child who is picked on by his peers for favoring books over football. Mother Lane wants Muniz to have a terrier puppy, although stern father Kevin Bacon (as Jack) vetoes the idea. He says Muniz is too young to accept the responsibility, but Mr. Bacon really worries about his son experiencing the painful side effect of unconditional love. Bacon soon succumbs to Lane's instance, and "Skip" stays in the picture..."Skip" (short for "Skipper") teaches Muniz to play football as well as read books. He overcomes shyness to go hand-holding with the prettiest girl in elementary school, Caitlin Wachs (as Rivers Applewhite). After much frolicking, we see some inevitable drama… so, if sad movies always make you cry, be prepared to shed a tear here and there… maybe even a bucket… The sentimental "My Dog Skip" begins to falter when the subplot involving "moonshiners" takes center stage; they clearly built this episode up to steer the drama, but it is excessively contrived and manipulative. Otherwise, this is an excellent, kid-friendly tearjerker.There are two particularly outstanding elements. First, the setting is recreated beautifully. Art and set direction are the film's most obvious strengths - with stellar work from David Bomba, Tracey Doyle and the crew. Notice how well director Jay Russell and photographer James L. Carter keep the setting aligned to the story being based on Willie Morris' youthful memories. Therefore, we get idealized recollections, with racism barely visible and the horror of wartime combat unfolding slowly in both Morris' mind and Bacon's sure-footed performance. Finally, the narration, whether or not verbatim, sounds like Willie Morris' prose.******** My Dog Skip (1/8/00) Jay Russell ~ Frankie Muniz, Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson

Hello Everyone, I Remember watching this movie with my kids, I cried then, even more then they did. and just saw it on HBO and, just started balling all over again, it takes me back to being a kid and my dogs that went everywhere i went. the female was so spoiled very fufu, were the male was just like WHATEVER DUDE,Also of my parents, mostly my Father, he was in WWII, A nose gunner in a B-24 fighting the Japanese, as I look back and the story's he told about being a kid also the old homes, my parents were from Worcester Mass, this movie really moved me. I highly recommend this movie to anyone!, even the old tough guys who never cry, because that was ME.