Familiar ‘Dog’ Recalls War Years in the South

Based on Willie Morris’ 1995 memoir, “My Dog Skip” is a standard-issue Hollywood family film about a boy and his dog growing up in a Southern small town during World War II. As such, it fills the bill without transcending it. It’s a little too glossy, Skip a bit too much the trained performer--he’s played by two perfectly matched Jack Russell terriers--and William Ross’ omnipresent score far too syrupy and trite.

A big plus, however, is the naturalism of Frankie Muniz as the 8-year-old Willie, a lonely only child, the son of an overprotective yet taciturn father (Kevin Bacon), embittered by losing a leg in the Spanish Civil War and, luckily for him, an independent and imaginative mother (Diane Lane), who defies her husband’s wishes in giving her son a dog for his 9th birthday.

The father believes that something is sure to happen to the animal and will only cause his son heartbreak he thinks the boy is not mature enough to handle. His wife considers this nonsense, and the dog, swiftly adored by one and all, in fact proves a vital catalyst in helping her son to relate to other children and build self-confidence. The usual adventures and life lessons ensue.

Of course, “My Dog Skip” is heavy on the nostalgia, and production designer David Bomba deserves much credit for a flawless period re-creation; the ‘40s are just near enough and far enough away in time to be treacherous. Bomba understands that the impact of the Depression, especially in a small Mississippi town, means that its citizens are not going to have much that is new, so he goes easy on the Streamline Moderne and even Art Deco. He also realizes that even after Pearl Harbor there aren’t many signs yet that we are at war, at least in rural Mississippi.

As the picture progresses, however, director Jay Russell and writer Gail Gilchriest let younger generations in on a secret: If you are about the same age as Morris, the distinguished editor and author who died of heart failure at 64 last August, you know that World War II was a wonderful time to be a child--provided its grimmer battlefront realities didn’t affect your family directly. Indeed, the selfless sharing that permeated American society “for the duration,” creating close-knit extended families and friendships, gave kids a false impression of a seamlessly harmonious and unified America. In that light, it’s to “My Dog Skip’s” credit that it deftly acknowledges--and deplores--segregation.

Bacon and Lane are fine in what are definitely supporting roles, as is Luke Wilson as a local athlete hero who discovers in battle that he is not afraid to die but has no taste for killing. “My Dog Skip” ends with a flash-forward to Morris leaving home to attend Oxford, where he was a Rhodes scholar after graduating from the University of Texas. Morris later became the youngest ever editor of Harper’s, at age 32. He later returned to the South and became a prolific and prestigious writer until his death.

* MPAA rating: PG, for some violent content and mild language. Times guidelines: One scene, involving animal abuse, may be too intense for the very young.

‘My Dog Skip’

Frankie Muniz: Willie Morris

Diane Lane: Ellen Morris

Luke Wilson: Dink Jenkins

Kevin Bacon: Jack Morris

A Warners Bros. presentation of an Alcon Entertainment presentation of a Mark Johnson/John Lee Hancock production. Director Jay Russell. Producers Mark Johnson, John Lee Hancock, Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. Executive producers Jay Russell and Marty Ewing. Screenplay by Gail Gilchriest; based on the book by Willie Morris. Cinematographer James L. Carter. Editors Harvey Rosenstock and Gary Winter. Music William Ross. Costumes Edi Giguere. Production designer David J. Bomba. Set decorator Tracey Doyle. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

At selected theaters.