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My dog Skip

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Every family needs an optimist.

The year is 1942. As the Allies unite overseas to keep the world safe for democracy, there are voices at home that are barely heard. One of them belongs to Willie Morris (Frankie Muniz), a shy and gawky 8-year-old whose childhood is even more quiet and isolated than his home town of Yazoo, Mississippi. An only child, ignored at school and uncomfortable with girls, Willie looks up to and confides in next-door neighbour Dink Jenkins (Luke Wilson), the town's star athlete, who's preparing to ship out in the service of Uncle Sam.

Willie's father, Jack Morris (Kevin Bacon), a stern but good-hearted veteran who lost his leg in the Spanish Civil War, is chiefly responsible for Willie's overprotective upbringing. Pushing in the other direction is his mother, Ellen Morris (Diane Lane), a capable woman who knows that what Willie needs most is some freedom - and a friend. Willie's ninth birthday gives her an opportunity to offer him both, in the form of a Jack Russell Terrier puppy that the delighted Willie names Skip.

Skip's outgoing personality helps Willie to build a friendship with Rivers Applewhite (Caitlin Wachs), the prettiest girl in school. Skip then further serves as matchmaker for Willie and Rivers at the movie theatre, and lends a paw after Willie is challenged by big boy Wilkinson (Bradley Coryell), Henjie Henick (Daylan Honeycutt) and Spit McGee (Cody Linley) to prove his worth in a football game. With Skip's canine help, Willie starts becoming one of the boys.

Based on the memoir by Willie Morris, directed by Jay Russell.

Cinematic intelligence sources

My dog Skip official movie site
Studios and distributors:

Warner Bros * Roadshow Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

A good, old-fashioned, growing up in small-town USA during World War II tale with a dog.

Actually, despite his literal existence, Skip is also a metaphor for Willie. And a guide. And a friend. Dogs have an amazing capacity to love and to bond with one person, often the one who most needs them. It is almost impossible for the human to break that bond no matter how long they stay away, how little they care for the canine or how badly they mistreat it. That kind of devotion would be an obsession if it weren't so beautiful. Not that I'm a dog person, quite the opposite, I'm just intelligent enough to know what's going on around me (and I do not care for dirty dog smell, dog hairs on the furniture, dog hairs on clothes, dog slobber, dog rooting legs or badly trained dogs).

My dog Skip strikes a chord because it is a universal story, even without the dog. Some kids are born knowing how to relate to other kids, some kids fall into friendships by default, some kids do neither. The latter group, of which Willie is a member, is made up of a big range of kids, many of whom never make it into a social group. Some are loners, some are dragged around by parents (See Tumbleweeds), some are victims, and some are unbalanced. (I don't know why I'm going on about this but it's one of those things that I think I should go on about.) The trouble is that without some outside impetus to force them into making friends, they probably never will. For Willie, the push comes from Skip.

Perhaps that's what makes My dog Skip such a warm and fuzzy film: the fact that it's about a boy who's saved from the unknown horrors of loneliness. Fortunately, there's a sub-plot which, although mostly edited out, undercuts the apple pie sentimentality of it all: war. Bad feelings, shattered hopes, broken dreams. Reminding people who crappy life is is about the only good thing that comes from war.

My dog Skip is an easy going movie that wafts through childhood in the same way that children do. Every day lasts for weeks, every week lasts for years. Based as it is upon a memoir, the script gives you the benefit of experience and immediate understanding, so you see how everything affects Willie later on in life. It's a good way to pass a couple of hours.

PS: I wanted to record this saying somewhere so here it is: dogs have masters, cats have servants.