Tim Allen and Robert Downey, Jr. in "The Shaggy Dog"
courtesy of Disney Home Entertainment
"Best Seen Through Kids' Eyes"

Disney's "The Shaggy Dog" is now out on video. This new version stars Tim Allen and he follows in the footsteps of Fred MacMurray and Dean Jones. Once again we get the story of a man who is magically turned into a shaggy dog and begins to see life from that animal's perspective. His wife and kids are in the dark but eventually they find out his secret and come to accept him as a dog and a man.

When I saw the movie on the big screen I was not particularly impressed. I felt the "shaggy dog" series had run its course and then some. Allen and his nemesis in the film played by Robert Downey, Jr. were both okay but the movie was a little tiring. But then I watched the DVD version with my six-year-old granddaughter and saw it through her eyes - and it was delightful. She thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed out loud at the antics of the dog and the lines spoken by Tim Allen.

Watching it with her I could see why these films should be made and re-made. They are kid pleasers. Plus they are clean and safe for family viewing. So get "The Shaggy Dog" and settle down with your family for some fine family viewing courtesy of Disney. Through a child's eyes this is one funny movie.

On the other hand I wasn't overly impressed with "V For Vendetta" when I saw it on the big screen and when I watched it on DVD I had the same reaction. Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving star in this action thriller from the Wachowski Brothers. They are the guys who brought you "The Matrix Trilogy" so they know their way around action flix, but in this one they get too political for their own good and it turns off the broad audience.

The film has a semi-futuristic look to it but it is set in the not too distant future. There is a man in a Guy Fawke's mask who is trying to cause an uprising among the Brits against their government. He even blows up buildings to make his points. In this day and age of terrorism the justification for violence is not something I could buy.

The whole plot is too contrived and too stagy to make me a convert. It also is too violent. Portman and Weaving are good in their roles as the fanatic and his convert, but the movie just bogs down. What should have been inspiring is off-putting, and what might have been romantic is just creepy.

"V For Vendetta" has to be filed under "L" for Loser.

"My Summer Story" is not a loser but it is not the winner its original story was either. This movie is a sequel of sorts to the classic "A Christmas Story." You know the one where Ralphie played with his B B gun and his mother feared he would put his eye out.

This time out Ralphie is played by Keiran Culkin (yes, of those Culkins), and his parents are played by Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen. Grodin is miscast in the Darren McGavin role but I still fond him enjoyable. There is just something about his style and wit I like. Steenburgen is fine as the mother.

The comedy moments are few and far between but there are some there is you take the time to find them. And the family as a unit message is a good one too. It is not anywhere near the equal of "A Christmas Story" but for some light entertainment it is passable.

And there is still another "family" film on DVD this week. It is "Heidi," the version that stars Max Von Sydow as the grandfather and Emma Bolger as Heidi. This version also stars Geraldine Chaplin and Diana Rigg which makes this a pretty pedigreed cast.

The story is still the same about a young orphan girl who is sent to live with her grandfather in the Alps. Here she struggles to find a place where she belongs and to have someone love her. There are a lot of ends and outs in the story but all's well that ends well and this one does.

The scenery is beautiful, the acting is solid, and the story is one for the ages. This is a top-notch treat for the family. Watch "Heidi" and relive the story one more time.

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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