Dog Gone

Whether you are a kid or the parent of a kid, chances are that when you watch "Dog Gone", you'll experience a severe case of deja-vu. Echoes of other movies - much better movies - will rear their heads throughout. The movie that it copies the most is "Home Alone", but this family movie also rips off "Caddyshack"! Maybe this rip-off could have worked, but unless you are a kid - a really REALLY little kid - this movie is tough to sit through. It's so broadly played by its cast that you can't get involved with the main protagonist and the dog that he cares about. It's also at times so badly directed and edited that it takes you a few seconds to realize what just happened. And I won't get into the bizarre casting of Garrett Morris as the town's police chief. As I said, maybe really little kids might like this movie, but come on parents, surely you can find something better to entertain your kids!

Okay, I know that clearly this movie is aimed towards kids or whatever, but it's still a decent clean wholesome movie that's actually pretty funny, if you fast forward the annoying kid scenes; Kevin Farley and French Stewart shine in this movie. Clearly this movie wasn't meant to be taken seriously or watched in such a way. Frankly I wish they would have found a more likeable kid to play the main Star; make the movie almost unwatchable because of him, thus the reason why I give it 5 stars instead of the 10 stars that it clearly deserves. So, yes it has its moments and it's still a decent movie regardless. Just keep an open mind while watching it.

The movie drags on and on and frankly the plot has been done way better before many times.

The story is written very thinly and the characters are very much uninteresting.

Adult acting is broad and silly. The movie don't really ever know if it wants to be a full fledged comedy or something else.

Also, the bad guys look like cartoons.

In all I'd say stay away.

It's hard for even kids to keep their interest watching this fiasco.

It's truly a boring movie. I can't even recommend it as background noise.

I saw this when it screened at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. A fun, good-natured family movie that reminds me of those memorable Disney comedies I saw when I was a kid - The Apple Dumpling Gang, No Deposit No Return, Pete's Dragon. I really loved those! My kids love them too on DVD, and Diamond Dog is definitely something I would take them to when it opens in theaters. I haven't seen a release date yet - maybe this Summer. Plenty of gags, slapstick and even some cartoon squirrels that should please Alvin and the Chipmunks fans. Disney Channel favorite Luke Benward (who sings a great song over the end credits) and the adorable pooch keep things moving along at a steady pace, while Kevin Farley upholds the family tradition and provides plenty of laughs (he's Chris Farley's brother). But this movie belongs to French Stewart, who is hilarious as the villain!

The kids won't be disappointed with this one.

A dog leash hanging on a hook in a home without a dog immediately reveals the sadness a boy feels for the loss of the dog he has loved. Owen is not allowed to have a replacement dog because of his sister's allergy to dog fur. So his need to care for a dog is shown when he needs to save a dog being used to smuggle flawless stolen diamonds. The comic trio of crooks who want to secrete the diamonds enter the story. Although very discreet with the diamonds they have a conspicuous get-away car of pink and white with a backfiring exhaust. Then there is the mystique of a mad mountain man who we can't be too sure is just a figment of Own's imagination. We're yearning for the hermit's backstory but mention of him is kept to a minimum until his role in the story is revealed. A number of the characters in the film didn't really qualify as necessary and I could actually done without them. I say this because I was feeling fatigued towards the end of the film and would have welcomed a shorter running time. But it is a nice movie with some heart-warming moments between Owen and the dog which he names Diamond. The crooks have some funny moments, my first choice of which is the head of the gang Blackie disguised as a blind nun wearing lipstick.