Call of the Wild

Christopher Lloyd played a grieving widower who lives in small town Montana. His granddaughter visits from Boston. She is a city girl who unwillingly adopts a wolf named Buck. The grandfather reads the classic novel to her. The film is satisfactory and a traditional family film actually done on location in Montana. There is a dog sled race. Christopher Lloyd gave a terrific performance. Joyce Dewitt has a small role as a neighbor whose chickens go missing. I wished there was more of her in the film. Veronica Carwtright played the Sheriff.

If you want to watch the best adaption of the classic novel, Call of the Wild, then this shouldn't be your choice. On the other hand, if you like outdoor adventures featuring animals, this is a good pick. And for 3D fans this is worth watching as well. The Jack London story is interwoven throughout with images while the story is read out loud by Grandpa each night. This is only a small percentage of the whole story. The rest is about a 10 year old girl visiting her grandfather, they find a physically ill dog-wolf, bring it back to good health & with tough opposition, try to keep it. The acting is good and the 3D works pretty well on your TV screen with the red & blue glasses. Both 2D & 3D versions are on one single disc. The outdoor location filming was a very big plus. Pretty good cast including famous siblings. Timothy Bottoms(The Last Picture Show, The Paper Chase)brother of Joseph, and Veronica Cartwright(Alien, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers) sister of Angela. Then there's Christopher Lloyd(Star Trek III, Back to the Future, Taxi TV series) and in a small but good part, Wes Studi(Geronimo, Last of the Mohicans, Dances with Wolves, Avatar). And yes, there is a dog sled race.

If you loved Jack London's beautiful original novel, you won't like this Disneyfied version...

Call of the Wild 3D is a modern day story about a city girl (Ariel Gade) from Boston going to visit her grandpa (Christopher Lloyd) in the wilds of Montana. While this isn't going to win any Oscars, for a small budget direct to DVD feature, it's really pretty good fun. The 3D shows off the beautiful scenery and the story, while somewhat predictable, has fun tie ins to Jack London's book, The Call of the Wild through Grandpa reading his granddaughter the story at night. It has a good message, and the acting is really quite good. There are some cheesy parts and some eye roller lines, but the kids thought it was wonderful, and my wife and I found ourselves pleasantly entertained. Christopher Lloyd plays it pretty straight laced in this one, but gives a good performance, and we were impressed with Ariel Gade's performance. It really gave the story credibility.

Overall an enjoyable family movie for the kids with just enough weight to keep mom and dad entertained as well.

Movie about puppies Are All That Even Cute and cute... Just.... Cute... As always...