Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

You know the movie could have been a lot better when the animal - in this case, a little dog - is the best actor on the screen! The acting in this film is so bad, so amateurish, by dog got embarrassed watching this. He ("Rusty," our Golden Retreiver) could have done a better job than the people in here.By now this is almost a trite story: kid finds animal, pet is not liked nor wanted by one of the parents but the "pet" winds up saving one the kids and is now a hero and an official member of the family. Sound familiar? I remember this movie being a big hit, but never got around to seeing it until the mid '90s on VHS. I was shocked how bad it was. Why so much fuss over a film? Was it because there was so much sleaze in the early '70s that a nice family film stood out in the crowd? Possibly. There wasn't a whole lot of wholesome entertainment in the decade of the '70s plus a lot of people are suckers for cute little animal stories. Who could resist this cute little dog? Not me. But the movie I can resist: it's a Grade B storyline with horrible acting. Recommended only for small-dog animal lovers and I mean "lovers" because even the average pet owner will fall asleep trying to watch this film in this day-and-age.

One of the cinema's all-time favorite pooches made his big screen debut here in what began as a low-budget kiddie flick, but turned into an almost global sensation. Higgins the Dog (hereafter referred to as Benji), a shelter rescue who had made a few appearances on the Paul Henning sitcoms "Green Acres" and particularly "Petticoat Junction", stars here as a lovable stray who spends every day of his life traipsing from location to location. Each morning begins at Breck's house (unbeknownst to Breck!) where he gets his breakfast from the friendly housekeeper Garrett and receives affection from Breck's two children Fiuzat and Smith. Then it's off to the park for a visit with policeman Carter (and a little snack.) Following a daily scuffle with Bavier's white cat, he stops by the local café for a bone from friendly proprietor Buchanan (who Benji worked with on "Petticoat Junction".) Each day ends with a trip back to his "home", an abandoned, antique-filled estate where he keeps a makeshift bed behind an old chest. Life is great. He even meets a girlfriend in the fluffy and white Tiffany! One day, however, Benji is thrown for a loop when a quartet of troublemakers comes into his house and decides to use it as a base of operations for their upcoming criminal scheme. It's up to Benji to put these folks out of business which is no easy feat when he can't talk and no one seems interested in following him. To say that the leading canine is charming and adorable is an understatement. Somehow, his trainer has managed to capture an array of remarkable expressions and movements from him and he is perfectly captivating. Today, films featuring animals usually take the easy way out and use computer animation to achieve various looks and stunts. Not here. This is a real dog making real moments happen. It's no wonder Benji was a sensation after this. Despite the use of minor TV actors in virtually every other role, very few of the humans in the film make any sort of impact. Garrett probably has the largest role and she's not bad. Like most of the rest of the cast, she's hampered by some very obvious looping in post-production, perhaps due to extraneous noise while shooting on location. The children are very awkwardly amateurish, particularly Fiuzat. Breck has little to do and does it without a lot of conviction. Buchanan is rather charming in his lackadaisical way, Carter is likable enough and Bavier does an excellent job with her minor role. Granted, the script is hardly top-notch, but as the three (young?) men of the bad guys, Lester, Connelly and Slade are embarrassingly bad. The direction does them no favors either. Special scorn, however, must go to the truly hideous bit of "acting" turned in by Walley as the gang's lone female. She is atrocious; never more so than when she tries to avoid being uncovered by Benji near the films end. During the bulk of the film, there is a leisurely pace that may not sit well with viewers used to more frenetic editing and action. However, no one can deny the innate charm of the little four-legged star (and, to a lesser extent, his furry leading lady!) Dog-lovers will take him to heart, no matter the less-than-stellar production values.

"Benji" plays as two separate movies. The first hour is some of the highest quality family entertainment imaginable. The opening scene is made to look the opening of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." It's a hilarious parody as we see this little dog being liberated into a human world. We follow Benji through his daily routine and it's delightful, often hilarious. Sure, some of the human actors are a tad nauseating, but the canines take control and that's all that matters. Benji and his girlfriend Tiffnay have a very sweet relationship, very reminiscent of "Lady and the Tramp." But when that first hour is over, so is the fun. Suddenly, a new movie starts--a ridiculous heist film. "The French Connection" on four legs? I don't think so.

The dog can act...unfortunately nobody else in the cast of this silly and oddly plotted children's film can. A stray yet very clever dog insinuates himself into the lives of two motherless children, much to the chagrin of their bitter and cold-hearted father. In what can only be described as Dickensian, the evil widower forbids his children --- who may or may not be mentally challenged --- from playing with Benji. Neither the children nor Benji obeys. Soon the children are kidnapped and Benji has to help the police find them. It's only then that the old man realizes that Benji is good, not bad.Tom Lester, whose only previous acting experience appears to have been playing the dim-witted Eb on GREEN ACRES plays one of the kidnappers. So does the regrettably over-utilized Deborah Walley. Walley's previous screen triumphs include BEACH BLANKET BINGO and the woeful IT'S A BIKINI WORLD. She also played both Gidget and Tammy in the past and here attempts to obliterate her good-girl reputation by playing it bad! STAY away from BENJI...he's a dog and this movie is a dog!