AIR BUD
SYNOPSIS:
Recovering from his father’s untimely death, 12 year old
Josh Framm (Kevin Zegers) moves with his mother (Wendy Makkena)
to the sleepy town of Fernfield, Washington. As the new kid on
the block, Josh has no friends and is too shy to try out for the
school basketball team. However, when practicing on an abandoned
court, he befriends a runaway golden retriever named Buddy, who
appears to be like a canine Michael Jordan. Josh and Buddy make
the school team, thanks to the school's amoral coach (Stephen E.
Miller) who will do anything to make his team win. Buddy’s
on-court antics cause a media frenzy. But during one game, the
coach goes too far and gets fired. It's Josh who suggest that the
school janitor, who happens to be an ex-star player for the New
York Knicks (Bill Cobbs), become their next coach. Then
Buddy’s former owner, a nasty clown called Norm Snively
(Michael Jeter) comes along with a scheme to cash in on the
dog’s celebrity, just as they are rallying the town’s
school team to the state basketball finals.
"When a film distributor fails to screen a film for the
media, one suspects there's a valid reason for that decision.
However, in the case of Air Bud, that decision is both mystifying
and absurd. Apart from the fact that the film received positive
reviews when released in the US last year, good family films come
along all too rarely, and they're not the easiest to market. It's
a pity that this gentle and amusing film will largely go ignored,
because there are no space ships, or sinking ships, or
forgettable special effects. No, there's none of that, but a
well-written script and a sense of old-fashioned humanity.
Exquisitely shot on location in Canada and featuring some
wonderful performances by its fresh cast, Air Bud is a delightful
story of loss, friendship and acceptance. It could have been a
silly farce about a basketball-playing dog, but director Charles
Martin Smith manages to rise above conventional cliché,
presenting us with a sentimental and funny account of a young
boy's growth following the death of his father. At the same time,
it's a loot of fun, featuring a remarkable dog who does, in fact,
know how to play basketball (or did: sadly, he died not long
after filming). The basketball game sequences are imaginatively
mounted and clever, and the film doesn't attempt to insult the
intelligence of its intended audiences. While some cynical
critics will either ignore or dismiss the film, others will
realise that in age where family cinema is almost a forgotten
art, this energetic and charming movie fills an important niche.
It's a rare delight."
Paul Fischer
"As high-concept pictures go, Air Bud has the promising,
if limited, come-on of a basketball-playing pooch. While
it’s true he drools rather than dribbles, golden retriever
Buddy has uncanny accuracy at popping a ball into the hoop with
his snout. While it’s true he drools rather than dribbles,
golden retriever Buddy has uncanny accuracy at popping a ball
into the hoop with his snout. Thankfully, the filmmakers
don’t overplay this ‘stupid dog trick’ and focus
on some enduring, as well as creaky, family values… There is
no question that Paul Tamasy and Aaron Mendelsohn’s script
is anchored in cliché. One can see every plot turn coming like
Lawrence’s camel on the distant horizon. So the fun of the
piece is in having one’s expectations fulfilled, while the
agony - for anyone with a rudimentary movie education - is
watching the syrupy sentimentality spill over and coat the
frame… Certainly director Charles Martin Smith provides the
story with a lot of heart. …"
Leonard Klady, Variety
"Are there ever movies you just hate the idea of going to
see?'' Yes, I say, there are--but sometimes I'm surprised….I
had seen the trailer, and knew it was about a dog who could play
basketball. I was not impatient to see this movie. I began to
have stirrings of hope in the opening scenes, which involved an
obnoxious and possibly drunken clown making a fool of himself at
a children's party. His act was called Clown and a Hound,' and
the dog seemed smarter and nicer than its master, and probably
smelled better. On the highway, the dog's cage bounces out of the
clown's pickup, and through a series of adventures the dog makes
friends with the young hero of the movie, Josh (Kevin
Zegers)…. There are predictable crises: Will Snively the
Clown (Michael Jeter) come looking for his dog? Will Josh be
promoted from manager to player? Will the team's mean star and
his overzealous dad spoil the fun? The movie touches those bases,
but with freshness and energy. And the climactic scenes are not
only absurd and goofy but also enormously entertaining. By the
end of the film I was quietly amazed: Not only could Buddy play
basketball, but I actually cared how the game turned out…
The dog, by the way, wears its own little basketball shoes. Don't
let your dog see the movie, or it'll want some."
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times
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CRITICAL COUNT
Favourable: 3
Unfavourable: 0
Mixed:0
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AIR BUD (G)
(US)
CAST: Michael Jeter, Kevin Zegers, Wendy Makkena, Bill Cobbs,
Eric Christmas, Brendan Fletcher, Norman Browning, Jay Brazeau,
Stephen E. Miller, Nicola Cavendish, Shayn Solberg
DIRECTOR: Charles Martin Smith
PRODUCER: Robert Vince, William Vince
SCRIPT: Paul Tamasy, Aaron Mendelsohn (based on the character
created by Kevin DiCicco)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mike Southon
EDITOR: Alison Grace
MUSIC: Brahm Wenger
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Elizabeth Wilcox
RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: Roadshow
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: April 9, 1998
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