Article
Views & r(E)views
By Mike & Paula Parker
"Benji: Off The Leash"
Mulberry Square Productions
There is an old Hollywood proverb that goes - "Never act with dogs or children. They inevitably either make a horrible mess, or steal the show." In "Benji: Off The Leash" the human actors would have done well to heed that advice, for the dogs stole the show and never brought it back.
The last Benji movie was made over 15 years ago - long before its target audience of pre- and elementary school kids ever drew their first breath. But that didn't stop the audience of 400 + youngsters and their parents at the screening I attended from lining up to have their pictures made with the film's star. Yes, I did get to meet Benji in person, er…in dog…or whatever. And yes, she definitely has star power in those big brown doggie eyes.
The film might have been more appropriately titled, "Benji and Shaggy's Excellent Adventure," for this time the flopped-eared heartthrob is joined by what might be the world scruffiest dog, a mutt appropriately named Shaggy, but who was referred to most of the film as 'lizard-tongue.'
The plot revolves around young Colby Hatchett, a decent 14 year old whose rotten, abusive stepfather runs a puppy mill in their backyard, and his attempt to have a dog of his own. A subplot follows the antics of two dumb and dumber dog catchers and their attempts to put Lizard Tongue behind bars. The two plots converge as the dog catchers find Hatchett's missing prize breeder. Hatchett gets sent to prison, Colby and his long-suffering mom break free from their abusive home life, Shaggy finds a home with an eccentric, but kindly old man, and Benji gets to be a movie star.
Plot holes? Yeah. You could drive a Sherman tank through them. I don't think any one of the kids in the audience cared. Benji was back, and one look in those big brown eyes and everyone in the audience, including me, was saying 'awwww.'
Family Factor: "Benji: Off The Leash" is rated PG for "Thematic Elements and Brief Mild Language." The thematic elements refer to the plot line involving animal abuse, and the implied issue of an abusive father. But if Benji is rated PG, I gotta wonder, what do you have to do to get a G?
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