Neve pra Cachorro

I love Cuba Gooding and I thought he was perfect for this part. I don't have anymore to say than I really (!!!) enjoyed this movie. It had enough chuckles in it and even the slow parts didn't bother me. I would love more "cute" movies such as this one!

This is a fun movie with Cuba Gooding, Jr. and James Coburn vying for scene stealing credit. The dogs are beautiful and the real canines can't be told apart from the animatronic ones (at least not by me).

I saw the film with my twelve-and-a half year old boy in a crowded theater. Most of the kids were much younger than mine. All seemed to love the film. As well they should have.

What I particularly liked was the fact that this film, aimed primarily at pre-teen kids, told without apology or moralizing a story that features premarital, interracial sex with a resultant pregnancy AND surrender of a baby for adoption. Of course most young kids would have little or no reason to wonder about what kind of relationship brought a black Miami dentist to the icebound interior of Alaska in search of his roots. That's great: kudos to the director, screenwriter and cast. But methinks some parents are going to be unhappy. Too bad: the family values spelled out in "Snow Dogs" are decent, caring and free from prejudice. Just what kids ought to see without explanation or excuse.

SNOW DOGS reminded me of the old family Disney films of the 1970s (you know, the ones where Dean Jones was in most of them?). The movie was completely predictable, but that didn't make it any less fun for me. I've never read the book it was based off of, but as for the movie itself, my wife and I greatly enjoyed seeing it. We could use more family films where the main purpose in going to see it is to be entertained and nothing more.

This movie was one of my favorites as a kid. I really, really loved it. Thought it had this oddly cozy feel to it, the kind of movie you watch on a rainy day you know.

So yeah, for some reason, today I picked it up again to re-watch it. It was still a nice, pleasant enough movie. I know it's not anything extraordinary or amazing. It's not a masterpiece. But I still really like like it (partly because of nostalgia, I guess). Still think it's a sweet, feel good movie.

Some bad jokes adults won't really find funny and the plot is very simple. The surroundings are are beautiful and the acting is just fine too.

I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did if I hadn't watched it as a child, but I'd still recommend it to kids, especially if they like dogs.

This film has virtually NOTHING to do with Gary Paulsen's gritty book "Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod" though he is credited with "suggesting" the idea for the movie. Essentially it's an amusing "fish-out-of-water" tale about a Miami dentist (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who inherits an Alaskan dogsled team, complicated by the fact he really doesn't like dogs. The filmmakers have relied heavily on the sunny persona of Gooding and a great deal of physical comedy for audience appeal. There are also solid support from grizzled screen veteran James Coburn and the ever-elegant Nichelle Nichols of "Star Trek" fame. I enjoyed the movie & so did most of the kids I saw in the theater. Don't know what that says about my taste in movies...

One caveat: if you are severely allergic to pseudo-singer Michael Bolton, you might break out in a "Time, Love and Tenderness" rash!