Kevin of the North

This comedy arrived during a recent snow storm. Right off the bat, we realized this movie was not going to break any new ground, or that it's nothing more than a funny attempt to let us spend almost two hours watching the shenanigans of this unlikely hero. Once that is out of the way, this film, directed by Bob Spiers, hit the spot.

Not only that, the famous dog race was happening at the same time Kevin, Bonnie, Carter, Clive Thornton were also going up North to Nome in the movie! There are some good moments in the film that make the viewer laugh.

Skeet Ulrich, as Kevin, makes the best he can with the material he was given to play. Natasha Henstridge, is Bonnie, a girl from a rival family that was an enemy of Kevin's pioneer grandfather. Leslie Nielsen is not as effective because his villain is not fully realized. On the other hand, Rik Mayall is a mean and ruthless Carter.

The best of the film, the Iditarod race. Kevin put together an assortment of cute dogs that turned out to be the winning team in the movie.

In the Canadian film industry, it's rare to come across a Canadian movie made for theaters that wasn't funded by the government, KEVIN OF THE NORTH being one of those. Actually, in this case the movie was *intended* for theaters, but it doesn't seem to have received a theatrical release. And that is the only smart decision made with the making of this movie. It certainly does not look theatrical-quality, with many scenes looking pretty cheap, due to a number of obvious short-cuts on screen. Skeet Ulrich manages to make an utterly obnoxious and stupid character even *more* obnoxious and stupid as it was written in the screenplay. Leslie Nielsen just goes through the motions, and Henstridge doesn't try at all. But the biggest fault of the movie is that it is remarkably unfunny. Oh, there are a couple of gags that made me (slightly) smile, but the rest of the attempts of humor consist of gross gags, people falling and slipping up, and punchlines you'll see coming long before the director reveals them. Not recommended, unless you want to see an example as to why most Canadians wouldn't be caught dead watching a Canadian film.

Yes, it is a lot like Snow Dogs but i do not see Chilly Dogs as a ripoff. Chilly Dogs was released in 2001, so it may have even come before Snow Dogs and been put on the backburner simply because it was not produced by a major film studio. I could be wrong, but i find it hard to believe that this film deliberately ripped off another script at the same exact time they were both filmed.

As for the movie itself, i really liked it. There are several excellent actors portraying some very funny roles. There are several truly hilarious dialogue moments which you may not even catch in the first viewing. When i watched it the second time i noticed quite a few things i had previously been unaware of.

Bottom line...if you like Winter Comedies you'll probably like this movie.

Who think to watch Leslie Nielsen will have a great surprise in this movie because Rik Mayall is high point of this silly movie, otherwise could be throw away the DVD but he saves the movie in your funny English's accent, some jokes and playing a villain, Nielsen as a bad guy didn't work, Skeet Ulrich is totally lost in bad smell and Natasha Henstridge works with your beauty only, remains a little of this picture, just Rik Mayall and the funny dogs!!

The other day I rented this movie hoping that I could have some laughs. I was wrong, I loved watching this movie. I laughed from the beginning to the end with the great contribution of Leslie Nielsen who in this film plays as the bad guy. Natasha Henstridge (Species) plays as the lover of Skeet Ulrich. I recommend this movie to the fans of comedy films and I am positively sure that you will like it.