Benji, um Amigo Especial

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story of two dogs neither of which is named Benji, a smart-aleck boy named Colby, his sociopathic father, his mentally withdrawn mother, a nutty old guy who talks to himself and dogs to a degree that seems unhealthy, and two bumbling dog catchers with hearts of gold.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

What an adorable movie! Anyone who walks away unaffected by these amazing dogs or the story has no heart. This time around Benji has a new sidekick and has to avoid a pair of bumbling dogcatchers, all while trying to rescue his sick mother from an evil dog breeder.

This is the perfect movie to take your family to without worrying about inappropriate content or language. This movie is funny, heartwarming and actually touches on serious topics that both adults and children can think about. The movie is never preachy yet it definitely has a message; this isn't your typical, brainless summer drivel. There's something for everyone here. I'd recommend this movie without any hesitation.

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.

We just returned from seeing this film, which opened today in our city. While it's by no means "great art" -- the plot and dialog are pretty basic -- the children around us were all laughing at the appropriate places and seemed involved in the story. When your movie-going experience is punctuated by people around you laughing or going "Awwww..." at the appropriate places, you have to assume they're enjoying themselves.

In an era when so much of what we see in films is created by computer, it was interesting to see the statement in the credits that there was NO computer-generated or animatronic stuff in this film and that all of the actions done by the animals were in reality done by the animals. I also think it's neat that the dogs in the film were actually adopted from animal shelters in different cities and were trained to be in this movie.

The film's humor is directed at younger children, especially the scenes involving the slapstick dog catchers, which older viewers might find a bit overdone. There are also some heavier aspects to the plot, but the children around us didn't seem to react to those so my assumption is that those parts just didn't resonate with the kids and that they were more involved with the cute dogs and what was happening with them.

I thought that the young man who played the lead character(or perhaps I should say, the lead HUMAN character!) did an especially nice job. Nick Whitaker's portrayal of Colby was one of the better acting roles of the film.

Bottom line: It's mainly a kids' movie, and it's a clean kids' movie (no off-color language or foul jokes). If it gets a bit sentimental at times, it makes up for it by showing just how expressive dogs can be, even without the power of speech. Oh -- and if you go, be sure to stay for the credits, which include scenes of the filming.

DO NOT TAKE YOUNG CHILDREN TO THIS MOVIE! I took my 2 young children, 6 and 3 along with a another mom and her 2 children, same ages...anxious to see a cheerful, cute Benji adventure like we were kids was a far cry from what this movie portrayed...the first scene where the alcoholic, clearly child and animal abusive father angrily tossed the Benji puppy across the floor and verbally hoped that he died was only the start...I'm a former employee of the SPCA of Texas so I know the message of animal abuse, puppy mills all too well...I can support educating adults and children on this but this was too strong for young children by far.

Joe Camp used the Benji name to draw parents in to get his message across. He should have made a G rated one as well that we could enjoy and not feel sick about...it's not the way I want to spend an afternoon with my kids. The abusive father was a great actor, you hated him more than life itself and wanted to kill him the way he did to the dogs he abused, i.e. the puppy he placed in a tied up bag then tossed into a river simply b/c he didn't want it. Thanks Joe. I hope you're taking the proceeds to animal charities for what our children went through today.