Benji: Off the Leash!

Can you believe? A film you can take your mom to? Yea!! Funny, funny, funny.....then you cry with happiness at the end. There is Benji, of course, but now he has a dufus sidekick named Lizard Tongue (you will see why when you see this great animal!) who stirs things up and causes all kinds of funny mayhem. And, there is a bird who will make you laugh until your side hurts. And, a nice young man who is trying to help Benji save his mother from a bad situation in a puppy mill. (That is the teary part.) It all adds up to entertainment with a purpose....to make you happy and make you feel good about going to the movies. The story is engaging and the scenes are beautifully shot. I hope many people get to see the new Benji.

I took less than detailed notes when sitting through BENJI: OFF THE LEASH. But one of the last things I wrote was a small one word review. I wrote "PUCK." I meant `PUKE'. But it was dark, so sue me.

Have you ever gone to movie that was geared for kids and after watching it you had that sick feeling in your stomach. Sure on the surface it seemed okay. But underneath, its actual message is dark and brooding. Well, here it is BENJI: OFF THE LEASH, a film about a bunch of adorable animals that is actually about animal abuse and a dysfunctional family about to collapse.

BENJI: OFF THE LEASH tells the story of two dogs neither of which is named Benji, a smart-aleck boy named Colby, his sociopathic father, his mentally withdrawn mother, a nutty old guy who talks to himself and dogs to a degree that seems unhealthy, and two bumbling dog catchers with hearts of gold. It's a lot of people and most of them are not connected.

You see Colby is a boy whose family is on the verge of collapse. His Dad is emotionally abusive. His mother just wants Colby to stop aggravating Dad. It seems Dad, who drinks (but you'd never know it cause in the course of the movie he only drinks two beers, even though the garbage can is full of them) beat his wife and Colby, and yet they still live there. Dad's also a rare dog breeder.

When Colby steels one of the rare dogs to save her, she mates with a mutt, and then give birth to'Puppy.' When Puppy's mother gets sick Puppy tries to rescue her from Colby's dad with the help of Lizard-Tongue, another stray in the neighborhood. Let the adorable adventures of Puppy and Lizard-Tongue commence.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not really the right person to review a film like this. But I did enjoy BENJI: THE HUNTED when I was a little boy. I still think it's one of the better animal films ever made. HUNTED's charm was the fact that BENJI, was a real dog. He didn't talk like the other adorable animals that've graced the silver screen and yet he had the same emotional attachment to his young audience.

In fact the strongest moments of OFF THE LEASH are the moments when the dogs are relating to each other. These moments feel masterful as the camera photographs these animals with some emotion and a lot of humanity.

Director (also writer, producer, and actor) Joe Camp loves animals. In fact every dog that has ever portrayed Benji has been a stray, rescued from a local area animal shelter. It's amazing that these dogs, many of which were abused or abandoned can be rescued and trained to work like pros. The film is at it best when he allows the camera to linger on the dogs and times barks so that we get a sense that they are talking. Those moments feel like old Silent movies. Camp actually allows the picture to tell the story, not dialogue. He also utilizes a nice musical soundtrack that helps move the action along and is about 80 percent of the time not distracting.

Where the movie goes way wrong is the human aspect. Every single character is badly drawn. They spout inane dialogue and are emotional retards. The very first thing Colby's dad does is throw Puppy across the room. (If you have an aversion to animal cruelty in any form I'd stay away from the film). So of course he's a jerk from minute one. He's so Jerky it's amazing that he's married and has a child. Honestly, the guy doesn't talk to anyone. He yells at people, a lot.

His character is so evil that it puts this weird, eerie darkness over the film. It's a strange portrait of a dysfunctional family. But the film still tries to play to the young crowd so on the surface there is this odd comedic tone. I think it's because the film human characters are stuck in a screenplay that is has very little subtlety. Making the characters feel unnatural and silly, instead of thoughtful and human. The film is being sold as a film about two adorable stray dogs trying to rescue their mother from the clutches of an evil dog breeder. But the film is really about how child abuse leads to animal abuse and will leave the adults in the room a real feeling of dread inside. To try and cover up this feeling, two stupid Dog Catchers and a guy, who looks like Santa Clause and talks like an inspirational calendar or greeting card are brought in the lighten things up. But they just seem to complicate the films narrative.

Will the film play to its intended audience? No, the worst part of this film is that it's boring. There is no life or color where the humans are concerned and they fill up most of this movie's 90 minute running time. Kids may watch it for a little while, maybe even be enchanted by the Dogs, but about 30 minutes in they'll be screaming to go home. My suggestion to the BENJI production team: Why not a series of shorts for the Disney channel or something, involving the dogs only? Kids will love it and you can stay away from writing stupid screenplay's involving stupid people.

BENJI: OFF THE LEASH was obviously made with lots of love and concern for abused and abandoned dogs all over the country. It wears its message right out in the open. It's just a shame the movie fails to charm or even entertain.

** out of 5

I have seen all of the Benji movies, including this latest one at a premier showing prior to release, and loved this one the best. It instills a variety of emotions in the viewer - laughter, sadness, sympathy, and anger - but I promise you that you will walk out of the theater with a big smile on your face and in your heart. Take a tissue with you, but your tears will be happy ones. The movie also sends a strong message about puppy mills and backyard breeders. I am an animal shelter volunteer and know that there are too many people out there who are uneducated about such topics. Thank you Joe Camp for bringing Benji back to us again along with that important message to the public.

Benji Off the Leash! is no one-trick-pony. The film should win audiences of all ages and defrost even the most hardened canine-phobe. Both the movie and the mutt are that good.

Movies targeted for family trade often seem designed by committees hoping to lure all demographics. Happily, Benji Off the Leash! attains purity in every sense of the word; unlike many films of any genre, it reflects a unified vision. Benji producer/director/screenwriter Joe Camp has not stooped to conquer.

In direction, story construction, camera-work and performances both human and canine, Benji Off the Leash! is the best of the Benji canon. Its two-legged hero is Colby, a stalwart youngster who loves dogs. Its two-legged villain is Colby's harsh father, whose appropriate last name is Hatchett. He runs an illegal dog mill and mistreats all beings, both two-legged and four-legged.

Colby and Benji have parallel plights, dealing with the rescue of loved ones and strong maternal bonds.

Benji Off the Leash! has serious undercurrents, but it never turns grim. The film's canine comic foil is a character named Lizard Tongue, whom Benji befriends and then probably wonders if making friends with the rascally Lizard Tongue was a wise move. Two goofy dogcatchers and one eccentric recluse provide the human comedy.

As before, Mr. Camp films the canine scenes from the dogs' perspectives, and the desire to reach out and touch is irresistible. Benji interacts gamely with Lizard Tongue, a chatty parrot named Merlin and even a cow. Don Reddy's cinematography exquisitely captures each moment.

With eyes born for movie camera close-ups, Benji is a female mixed-breed terrier, three and one-half years of age. She is a wonder-dog, but she doesn't hog the show. As played by Shaggy, a dog from the south side of Chicago, Lizard Tongue is also one formidable scene-stealer.

Two-legged stars also fare well. Nick Whitaker has the essential soulfulness for Colby, while Duane Stephens has some hilarious bits as the goofier of the two dogcatchers. Mr. Stephens also sings a lilting "It Had To Be You" over the closing credits. Neal Barth relishes each moment as town eccentric Zacharia Finch, fond of improvising quotes from phony sources.

Calling a movie "the best of its kind" often has a condescending tone. In the case of Benji Off the Leash!, no condescension is warranted. This Benji's a beaut, for all ages. Woof.

Benji Off the Leash!

Good family movie...includes domestic violence--though not graphically--against people and animals, which make it a cut above some animal comedies. I guess sometimes the animals ARE smarter than we humans..we are just too proud to admit it. But, this is a worthwhile watch...you will "boo" the villains( some of whom, ironically, morph into heroes before the end), root for the good guys...and it fairly well works itself out in the end. A lot of human actors prefer not to work with animal actors because animals steal the scenes. But this is a dog--or several dogs--having their day, and it is a bit of a romp, joyously as well as tragically. Mostly for kids, but worthwhile watching.