THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501140026
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
PERHAPS ``FAR From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog'' doesn't really have much plot and is consistently predictable. So what's so bad about having a movie once in a while that you can relax and not worry about how it turns out? Perhaps I'm making excuses, but so be it.
You see, I once owned a dog named Yellow, and it looked exactly like Dakotah, the yellow Labrador who plays the title character here. OK, critics are real people; in honor of Yellow, who has long ago gone to doggie heaven, I'm not going to knock this flick.
Most other people won't bother to knock it either - particularly people who are 10 years old or younger. The theme of a boy and his dog lost in the wilderness is practically foolproof - particularly when the dog is as bright, and can tilt its head in just the quizzical way Yellow does. The dog shows up from nowhere on an island off British Columbia and is promptly adopted by the family.
Just as promptly, boy and dog are lost when a boat capsizes and leaves them stranded in the beautiful but dangerous Canadian northwest. Jesse Bradford, who was so good in ``King of the Hill,'' plays the boy without ever getting coy. Refreshingly, he doesn't talk endlessly to the dog, the way boys do in all those ``Lassie'' adventures. And he never once reverts to the wild, the way boys did in ``Lord of the Flies.''
There are periodic shifts back to the parents who have nothing to do but look worried and urge officials to keep up the search, which is costing $200,000 a week. Mimi Rogers, the former Mrs. Tom Cruise, is the mom and Bruce Davison, an Oscar nominee for ``Longtime Companion,'' is the dad.
In spite of top billing, Yellow doesn't have nearly as much to do as doggie heroes usually undertake. The boy is more the center of things here. Yellow does scare away a wolf and stands up to a little cougar. Clearly, the title is there so that folks like me will think of the 1957 Disney classic ``Old Yeller'' and buy a ticket. The death of Old Yeller ranks right up there with the death of Bambi's mother in the most traumatic experiences of childhood.
The movie does have several implausibilities. Why are the searchers so seemingly inefficient, since the area is identified as relatively small? Why doesn't the boy stay on the high ground at a fire tower where he might be discovered instead of taking off through the woods again? But that's adult-type questioning and, even worse, adult-critic stuff.
In the tradition of ``Incredible Journey'' and ``The Adventures of Milo and Otis'' as well as the greatest of them all, ``Lassie Come Home,'' doggie journeys are still irresistible.
And, Yellow, wherever you are: You might have run from a cougar and you might not have done much on cue, but you still could know, exactly, when a school bus was returning me home. MEMO: MOVIE REVIEW
``Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog''
Cast: Mimi Rogers, Bruce Davison, Dakotah, Jesse Bradford, Tom Bower
MPAA rating: PG (tense for the little ones, but in a wholesome way)
Mal's rating: two and a half stars
Locations: Chesapeake Square, Greenbrier in Chesapeake, Janaf R/C
Main Gate in Norfolk, Lynnhaven, Pembroke, Surf-N-Sand at Virginia
Beach. ILLUSTRATION: 20TH CENTURY FOX photo
Jesse Bradford survives the wilderness with his yellow Labrador in
``Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog.''
by CNB