Of all dramatic sub-genres, family friendly “shaggy dog” movies are among the most cherished. They’re also the easiest to make and the hardest to mess up; all one needs to do is follow the tried-and-true formula established in 1943 with “Lassie Come Home.”
The new Netflix movie “Dog Gone” does indeed stick with the “Lassie” formula: Boy bonds with dog, boy loses dog, boy and dog are reunited, and all is right with the world. Yet, alas, the end result is severely wanting.
More Edge Than Wholesome
The principal problem (among many) here is that there’s too much questionable Netflix “edge” and not nearly enough Hallmark “wholesomeness.” If it is indeed “based on true events” as stated, the filmmakers either added things they shouldn’t have or failed to remove parts thoroughly inappropriate for preteen children or families thinking they’re getting a Hallmark knockoff.For starters, the lead character Fielding (newcomer Johnny Berchtold) is a complete mess. As the movie opens, Fielding is dumped by a girl way out of his league, and reacts by going to the pound and adopting a Golden Retriever he christens “Gonker.”
Fielding spends his entire senior year at a fictional Virginia college barely attending classes, instead frolicking with Gonker, engaging in day drinking, and refraining from regular hygiene. In one scene early on, both a bong (water pipe variety) and beer-bong (the funnel with a hose variety) are shown. For parents reading this: How do you feel about explaining what bongs are to your 8-year-old child?
After missing his own graduation, the directionless and increasingly unlikeable Fielding moves back home to McLean, Virginia (which is misspelled via onscreen text) with his parents, John (Rob Lowe, also a co-producer) and Ginny (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), neither of whom thinks he has the wherewithal to take care of a dog or even find a job.
The practical, no-nonsense John suggests Gonker wear a shock collar (so the dog won’t skedaddle) which causes Fielding to blanch and suggest animal cruelty while clutching his metaphorical, patchouli-scented, tie-dyed, millennial pearls.
At the half-hour mark, Fielding and his sole friend Nate (Nick Peine) are traipsing along the Appalachian Trail with Gonker who sees a fox and decides to chase it. With the exception of a fleeting scene during a thunderstorm, it will be the last time Gonker is shown onscreen in the flesh for the next 45 minutes.
Now a Dog Movie With No Dog
At this point, we’re left with a dog-centric movie without a dog. In its stead, we get a rather lame and force-fit father-son bonding, not-quite road flick with two characters that more or less despise each other. John is the glass half-full: one determined to find Gonker, while Fielding plays the pessimist.Back at home, the self-admitted “analog” Ginny (who prefers to work with phone books instead of the Internet), sets up base camp in the family kitchen organizing a dragnet search for Gonker, which takes on the look and air of a war room.
Ill-Advised Sub-Plot
While not at all believable, this particular Ginny sub-plot is upbeat and semi-inspiring but another, delivered via flashback, certainly is not. Ginny was raised in a strict military household with a cold-as-ice, non-dog-loving mother that will cause younger viewers to recoil and is not all that far removed from the Elvira Gulch character in “The Wizard of Oz.”Written by Nick Santora and based on a book of almost the same name by Pauls Toutongi (who is related to the depicted family in the film by marriage), “Dog Gone” was directed by Stephen Herek whose credits include “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” two very good 20th-century films.
Since that time, Herek has made several fleeting B-movies and has helmed equally pedestrian episodic TV shows which are all, unfortunately, still superior to “Dog Gone.”
If Netflix is going to “stretch” into family-appealing movies, they’re going to have to come up with something far more consistent and apropos than this well-intended train wreck.
That, or the studio could try to craft something along the lines of canine-themed titles such as “My Dog Skip” or “Old Yeller,” pictures that strayed from the “Lassie” blueprint, yet were able to become bittersweet classics in their own right.
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