Opens January 12, 2000

January is traditionally the month that studios release their less-than-stellar movies, the ones they want to "hide" in the shadow of the Academy Awards. It's a shame that My Dog Skip is stuck in theaters at such a time, since it as touching a film as I've seen in a long time. While Gail Gilchriest's adaptation of the Willie Morris boyhood memoir is sometimes mired in sentimentality, it is a welcome take on a more innocent time when the world, especially America, seemed full of possibility.

Only the crustiest of moviegoers will fail to be moved by this film. From the plaintive opening musical notes and the camera's slow pan across a young boy's cluttered room circa 1940, you know a gentle experience awaits. Morris grew up in 1940s Mississippi in the midst of World War II, which touched every facet of life. Yet the world was still more basic, less jaded. As portrayed by Frankie Muniz, Willie is a sweet, bookish child with no friends except for his neighbor Dink Jenkins (Luke Wilson), the local sports hero.

Poor Willie, like a lot of smaller, less coordinated kids, is an outsider who is constantly teased by the town bullies Big Boy, Henjie and Spit (the Little Rascal-ish threesome of Bradley Coryell, Daylan Honeycutt and Cody Linley.) All these kids are superbly cast, but Muniz especially stands out for his revelatory performance. Showing incredible range in relation to his smart Alec-y role in the new FOX series Malcolm in the Middle, Muniz captures the breadth of childhood's emotions, from wonderment to desperation to the emergence of newly discovered courage. His performance aptly captures Morris's own words: "All the lessons of childhood come in waves."

Willie's first lesson comes when he finds himself without friends, after buddy Dink goes off to fight Hitler. Willie's mom Ellen (Diane Lane) tries to soften the blow by presenting her son with a puppy on his birthday. Bad idea. Willie's dad Jack (Kevin Bacon), a hardened veteran who lost his leg in the Spanish Civil War, doesn't want his boy mourning the unexpected loss or death of a pet. Jack thinks he is protecting his son by sheltering him from life, but Ellen won't let him do it. The only way Willie will grow up is with some responsibility. See, Ellen is a tough cookie, able to stand up to Jack's gruffness, a woman who pays no heed to "keeping her place", especially when it has to do with Willie. Both Bacon and Lane glow as Willie's parents, making a palpable connection with one another and clearly telegraphing their love -- even if they show it in different ways -- for their awkward son.

Willie's dog, dubbed Skip, soon goes with him everywhere and even trots through town on his own in his free time, garnering hellos from the locals. "Anyone of any consequence knew Skip" and he's beloved like a favorite son. As trained by Matilde Decagney, dog actor "Enzo" (offspring of canine Frasier star "Eddie") defines the word "precious", amazing with his precise antics and perfect "facial" expressions. As the friendship between a boy and his dog grows, Willie literally blooms. Skip is his salvation, teaching him to play football, helping him meet the prettiest girl in town, Rivers Applewhite (Caitlin Wachs), and impressing the bullies enough to include Willie in their little club.

Soon, Willie and friends are frolicking about town -- yes, kids actually frolicked in the old days -- and getting into mischief with Skip by their side. Willie's induction into the boy's club involves a night at the cemetery where Skip uncovers a group of moon shiners (who rear their heads more than once). And, in one of the more amusing vignettes in the film, the kids train Skip for front line military service only to discover that he's "4-F" due an un-descended testicle. Ouch.

Willie's world crumbles when Dink returns home from the war with the reputation of being a coward. Angered by his hero's betrayal, Willie lashes out at Skip in one of the more dramatic episodes of the film. Skip runs off and is put in jeopardy (no surprise there), but as you might expect Willie's love eventually saves him. I must confess, at this point (and many others) in the film, tears were streaming down my face. And, lest you think I'm a maudlin fool, I wasn't alone. Even though this movie is at times overly warm and fuzzy, it hits all the right notes, sending an obvious, but moving message. In Willie Morris's own words, "loyalty and love are the best things of all, and the most lasting."

Perhaps what wins you over most is director Jay Russell's gentle portrayal of a childhood of which most of us could only dream. Despite his pain, Willie's youth is still pure, tinged by the golden glow of summer sun, the bright green of the baseball diamond and the clear blue of the Mississippi sky. We should all be so lucky to remember a youth as rich as Morris's, a time that spurred him to ask the bittersweet question: "Why in childhood and youth do we wish time would pass so quickly?" Why indeed. Watching My Dog Skip, we are reminded of why a good childhood and its memories -- even in today's rough world -- are so priceless.