Kevin Bacon does a complete role reversial from his latest released flick in MY DOG SKIP, a 50's-ish film for the kids that our reporter caught at the recent Virginia Film Fest. Here's the straight poop as received by Father Geek this morning...
You can call me Rosebud. I wrote an early review of FIGHT CLUB for you, but you didn't print it (my suspicion is because it was negative, you tourist!); anyway, here's a positive review of a film that won't come out until Jan.
I was at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville for the first screening of a finished version of MY DOG SKIP, which will be released by Warners in Jan. The film is based on an autobiographical book by Willie Morris. The setting is small town South during World War II and opens with Willie as a small boy who would rather read than play ball and gets mistreated by the kids his age while his father, a WWI vet played by Kevin Bacon who has a wooden leg, helplessly watches on. Willie's about to turn 9 and his mother (Diane Lane) wants to buy him a dog, but his father thinks it will just bring on pain, since dogs always end up dying or getting hit by a car.
Well, he gets the dog and we follow their life together into his young teens. The film is geared for kids ages 8-14, and those with nostalgic for those years, and it is wonderfully executed. It's very funny and unabashadedly sentimental -- and it pulls it off. It has an old-fashioned feeling to it, as if it was made during its setting. But this works for it, not against it. It's a film of gentle wisdom. Although it takes place in the South, its depiction of the relationships between the black and the whites (a very small part of the film) is treated without the heavy hand that haunts so many films that take this setting on. The film is poignant, the screenplay is exceptional, the direction is classy and assured. And all of this for a budget of 5 million (it looks like it cost three times as much).
Kevin Bacon gives a restrained performance that keeps him from becoming a cliche. Diane Lane is on a true comeback, this following on the heels of A WALK ON THE MOON. The child actor (whose name I don't recall) is a real find.
The audience responded enthusiasticly to the film. One person complained about the music being too melodramatic, but I found the opening score beautiful and then didn't think of it during the rest of the film.
This is hard audience to sell a film to. It's a cross between SOUNDER and OCTOBER SKY, but is funnier than both. The biggest stumbling block is -- the TITLE! Warners must change it! Ten year old boys aren't going to see a film with such a wussy title. (Just call it SKIP or something.) And when I saw the title, I thought it must be satirical, because it's so sur la nez. I think the title could cost the studio millions of dollars in lost revenue, which would be a shame since this is a special film.
Rosebud
