AIR BUD
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 2.5 Alternative Scale: * out of ****
United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 8/1/97 (wide) Running Length: 1:38 MPAA Classification: PG (Sophomoric humor) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Kevin Zegers, Wendy Makkena, Michael Jeter, Bill Cobbs, Eric Christmas Director: Charles Martin Smith Producers: Robert Vince and William Vince Screenplay: Aaron Mendelson, Paul Tamasy Cinematography: Mike Southon Music: Braham Wenger U.S. Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
When you consider motion picture concepts that never should make it past the planning stage, a dog playing basketball has to be near the top of the list (alongside a remake of CASABLANCA and a big-screen version of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER). Nevertheless, because this is Disney, a company that's never met a dumb animal movie premise it didn't like, AIR BUD not only survived development hell, but emerged to plague the late summer box office.
Someone should consider a law banning Disney from making sports- related movies. I still shudder every time I think of their ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD remake. THE MIGHTY DUCKS movies are the worst examples of crass commercialization. And now there's AIR BUD, which lavishes the same kind of sickeningly skewed attention on basketball that the Mouse Corporation had previously bestowed upon baseball and hockey. Somewhere along the way, Disney confused "family entertainment" with "mindless stupidity."
AIR BUD starts out like a severely watered-down version of the recent (and infinitely better) SHILOH. 12-year old Josh Framm (Kevin Zegers), a newcomer to the quiet town of Fernwell, Washington, makes friends with an abused golden retriever. The dog, named Buddy, has run away from its nasty owner, the sniveling Norm Snively (Michael Jeter). After proving over a two week period that he is responsible enough to care for the dog, Josh is allowed to keep him. Then, one night, while Josh is shooting baskets, Buddy reveals an amazing talent: the ability to sink a lay-up. Soon, the dog has become the mascot for Josh's school basketball team, and, with Buddy's support, they appear headed for the finals. That is, until Snively gets wind of who has his dog, and shows up to claim the animal.
In actuality, the first hour of AIR BUD is watchable, since all it's doing is recycling diluted elements from SHILOH and HOOSIERS. During the final thirty minutes, however, things become painful (to the point where I used the mantra "It's almost over" to keep from walking out). Does Josh's team win the championship? Does the dog save the day? Does Snively get what he deserves? Does anyone not know the answers to these questions?
Early during the end credits, AIR BUD makes note of the fact that "no special visual effects were used in the filming of the basketball sequences." That's fine, but, to involve me in a movie, something a little more impressive is required than a dog that can bounce a ball off its nose. There is no attempt to fashion anything more ambitious or interesting than an obligatory storyline around this circus act. And director Charles Martin Smith makes some ill-advised choices in developing AIR BUD's tone. For the most part, the movie is presented as a simplistic melodrama that takes itself far too seriously (with occasional, unfunny instances of slapstick comedy thrown in at odd moments). A movie featuring a basketball playing dog should probably use a somewhat less earnest approach to its subject matter.
In the acting department, the weakest performer is the human lead, Kevin Zegers. Zegers is adequate at best, but, at a time when there are an increasing number of superlative adolescent actors, that's not good enough. In Zegers' defense, however, it should be noted that it's difficult to give an effective performance while constantly being upstaged by a dog. Meanwhile, Michael Jeter is irritating as Snively -- watching his scenes is akin to enduring someone scraping their fingernails across a blackboard. Bill Cobbs is suitably wise and helpful as the school's janitor-turned-coach. And Wendy Makkena, who is best known as one of the singing nuns in Whoopi Goldberg's SISTER ACT, radiates maternal sweetness as Josh's mother.
The screenplay is credited to Aaron Mendelson and Paul Tamasy, and it's astonishing that the attention of two writers was needed to fill in the blanks of this by-the-numbers script. Once upon a time, I emerged from movies like this thinking that I could easily pen something with more originality and intelligence. What I eventually realized, however, was that those qualities are not what studios like Disney are looking for in their family fare. They want familiarity and banality, and AIR BUD wears both of those characteristics with the comfort and fit of a second skin.
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@mail.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
"A film is a petrified fountain of thought." - Jean Cocteau
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