26 lines
2.3 KiB
Plaintext
26 lines
2.3 KiB
Plaintext
disney's " air bud " tells a boy-and-his-dog story with a twist -- the pooch is quite an accomplished basketball player .
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granted , for a family comedy , it's not a very funny or successful idea to begin with , but it doesn't seem to matter -- " air bud " is surprisingly solemn .
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save for occasional moments of forced slapstick , the movie wags its tale with a straight face -- not a very enjoyable approach .
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if " air bud " had realized its own absurdity , then it possibly could have been better .
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here , we're actually asked to cheer a moment when the dog marches out to save the big game , clad in two pairs of sneakers and even a jersey .
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its number ?
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k9 .
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yeah , whatever .
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the movie opens as golden retriever buddy ( as himself ) escapes from his current owner , abusive clown-for-hire norm snively ( michael jeter ) .
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he ends up in fernwell , washington , where mopey new-kid-on-the-block josh ( kevin zegers ) is trying to cope with the move and the recent death of his father .
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buddy , kevin .
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kevin , buddy .
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once the dog proves his on-court prowess , kevin's self-esteem rockets .
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they both win places in the school's basketball team , with the animal as their mascot .
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but before they can make it to the finals , snively surfaces to reclaim buddy .
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everything plays out just as one would think : heavy on predictability , light on an actual story .
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the movie follows a calculated chain of events -- kevin's gloom fades , snively gets his comeuppance and buddy contracts rabies and must be executed old yeller-style .
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okay , that last one's a lie , but at least it would have been a quicker send-off than " air bud " 's courtroom climax -- no joke !
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there's even a faux-cute musical montage where a reluctant buddy gets cleaned-up to " splish splash . "
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paint cans are spilled and newspapers are buried , all in the name of formula .
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the end credits note that " no special visual effects were used in the basketball sequences of this motion picture . "
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that very well may be true , and although to see a dog sink shots is quite a sight , a movie cannot exist on feat alone .
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but " air bud " doesn't seem to be interested in anything else .
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a friend of mine insists he saw buddy a while back on a segment of david letterman's " stupid pet tricks . "
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i can't think of a more appropriate connection -- this movie is a stupid pet trick .
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