Rating: PG
Genre:
Children's/Family
Theatrical Release: 01/12/2000(USA)
Release Date: 07/11/2006
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 95 Minutes
Flags: Mild Violence, Suitable for Children, Adult Language, Watch With Your Kids
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
The popular memoir by Pulitzer prize-winning author
Willie Morris became this family comedy-drama about a boy and his dog. Young Willie Morris (
Frankie Muniz) is a shy eight-year-old in 1942 Yazoo, MS, who is more comfortable reading than playing sports. A target for local bullies, Willie's only real pal is his older next-door neighbor Dink Jenkins (
Luke Wilson), once the town's living sports legend and a big brother figure to Willie, an only child. When Dink is shipped overseas for service in World War II, Willie's mother Ellen (
Diane Lane) finally forces his gruff father Jack (
Kevin Bacon) to allow into the family a pet dog, a Jack Russell terrier named Skip. The smart and playful Skip gets his owner into a series of adventures on the baseball field and with a band of moonshiners, quickly turning Willie into a popular, accepted kid who even wins the affections of the school's prettiest girl, Rivers Applewhite (
Caitlin Wachs). In the meantime, Dink returns from war branded a coward for an incident that occurred in combat but finds an unexpected ally in the normally taciturn Jack, a fellow veteran.
Harry Connick Jr. narrated as the adult Willie; the role of Skip was played in later scenes by
Moose, the pooch star of television's
Frasier.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
;)
