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Make no bones about it -- Disney's SNOW DOGS is a hilarious action-packed comedy your whole family will love. Eight adorable but mischievous dogs get the best of dog hater Ted Brooks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) when he leaves his successful Miami Beach dental practice for the wilds of Alaska to claim his inheritance -- seven Siberian huskies and a border collie -- and discover his roots. As Ted's life goes to the dogs, he rises to the occasion and vows to learn to mush with his inheritance. Totally out of his element, he faces challenges he's never dreamed of. There's a blizzard, thin ice, an intimidating crusty old mountain man named Thunder Jack (James Coburn), the Arctic Challenge Sled Dog Race that's only two weeks away, and a life-and-death rescue. This fish-out-of water, tail-wagging comedy is nothing but doggone good fun and a celebration of family -- both human and canine!
Customer Review: GREAT Movie; Even Funnier "Extras" on the DVD
Loved the movie. Had been waiting for someone to take Gary Paulsen's incredible book WINTERDANCE: THE FINE MADNESS OF RUNNING THE IDITAROD and make it into a movie. And IF you have seen the movie and not read the book...go read the book. It stands alone from the movie. Both the movie and the book will make you laugh and cry and laugh some more. When Gary's dogs hit the "third" (or was it the fourth?) skunk on a training run, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. And you'll do the same thing in the movie.
Customer Review: I am not putting any part of that dog in my mouth!
If Disney ever wanted to make the argument that they have not lost touch with their childhood roots, I would strongly suggest not mentioning Snow Dogs in that argument. Sure, the numbers showed that this film was a success (i.e. the budget was $35 million and it took in $81 million in the US alone), but the final product that was released to the screen was nothing but sheer drivel. From the unoriginal story, to the inconsistent characters, to the painful acting of Cuba Gooding, Jr., Snow Dogs proved two truths. The first is that Disney can successfully make and mass-produce B-level cinema. The second is that they can make Oscar-winning actors give the worst performances of their careers. Snow Dogs demonstrates fully that some people in Hollywood choose money over scripts, they choose flimsy over developed, and recycled over original. What upset me the most about this film was the use of CGI to exaggerate the dog's expressions. To me, that is a huge slap in Cuba Gooding, Jr's face. If the studio didn't think that Cuba could successfully make the audiences laugh, then they needed to get stronger talent, do not muddle the genre with CGI created eyes, mouths, and expressions on the dogs. With this CGI, I felt as if I was watching a quick fix to an already unfixable problem. Did I go into this film expecting greatness? Not in any way shape or form. What I did expect was a level of professionalism topped with some brilliant "something" to make me utterly aware that this was a Disney film and while they may have a bad film on their hands, at least they may throw money to fix the problem. Again, my expectations were demolished. It became very obvious as I watched this film that half of the scenes were in front of a green screen, not actually in Alaska. Some of the more emotional moments were completely ruined by the horrid special effects in place. Disney has the money, where did the $35 million dollar budget go? From the CGI created dog "faces" to the CGI trees, bears, and mountains, you never felt like you were in Alaska at all, but instead warmly comfortable inside an obvious soundstage. Pay up Disney, you cheated me on this one... For this to be a full review, I have to mention the acting. It pains me to do so because nobody, I repeat, NOBODY could muster any form of "reality" to this film. From the delivery of the lines, the horrid physical comedy (which never worked), to the random moment of romance, not one character in this movie stayed in character or gave us any semblance of an actual character. I watched an hour and a half of actors awkwardly demonstrating to us that they did not know their characters, that they did not know their lines, and that the paycheck at the end was more important than the work throughout the process. I place solely the blame on Cuba Gooding, Jr. What happened to him? From the opening scene in Miami to the ending embarrassing "catch-phrase", I felt like Cuba should have handed the Academy back the award and apologized to everyone profusely. There are lines in Snow Dogs that were obviously read from a cue card. There were moments when it was obvious Cuba didn't care. He showed no range of emotion, no rational credibility, and again, there was no character. Who was Cuba Gooding, Jr. in this film? Just like a Tootsie Roll Pop, the world may never know! I could easily, and sadly, say the same about James Coburn. He was awarded an Oscar as well and the best he can manage is Snow Dogs? Who was Thunder Jack? What was his story, what made him gruff, what ... what ... what ... just too many questions running through my mind with these key actors that it makes me feel sorry for the child audience this film was aimed towards. It was very clear that neither of these actors were passionate about the story for they would have stopped early and backed away. I would have thought that Cuba (or at least James Coburn) would have put their hands down when it was discovered that SISQO (Mr. Thong himself) was going to be a key player. Unbelievable is the level of lacking respect that both of these actors had for themselves. The proof is in Snow Dogs. What bothered me the most about this film was the lack of intelligence aimed towards children. This was a "family" film, yet racism seemed to be slapped directly in your face. There was a scene that sticks out in my mind when Gooding tries to find his real father and assumes that it can only be the other black man in town. When it is discovered that it is someone else, there is a shock in the community. This film was released in 2002, with the society that we live in why would this be such a shock to the system? Couple this with the fact that Michael Bolton brings us the "inspirational" line from the film, "It doesn't matter what color you are, everyone can have soul." Egh. Where did this come from, and is this a "good" message to send to children? This ranks right next to the feeling that Gooding's love-interest was the only woman within a 100-mile radius, and that those living in Alaska are grizzly men with bad teeth. I felt midway through this film that Disney executives were in their offices insisting on another Cool Runnings-esque film (there was even a Volkswagen moment in this one). Sadly, with Snow Dogs their request became a nightmare. Overall, this was a cheap film, which boasts Oscar-winners performing well below the bar, CGI dogs and background, a story that hinges on the edge of fantasy, and the quintessential Disney "bow of approval". What I mean by this is that anything can happen, and with Disney films, it will. Gooding has the finances to leave his dental practice for several weeks without worrying about missing work, he can learn how to dogsled within a couple days, saves a man's life, and he immediately falls in love with the only girl from town who happens to be a model in her spare time. For those looking for a cute and cuddly film about dogs, I would not suggest this garbage. It is predictable, pretentious, and pathetic. Maybe a six-year old wouldn't mind the three "p", but this critic hated it! Grade: * out of *****


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