ric-25

I checked out the book "Thor" by Wayne Smith several years ago. The book is the story of a German Shepherd named Thor who lives with a family (he considers them his "pack".) The family is visited at one point by the mother's brother, Uncle Ted. He happens to be a werewolf. Thor's attempts to deal with this threat to the safety of the pack are the main plot of the book. The exceptional thing about the book is that it is told almost exclusively from Thor's point of view. There are some charming parts of the book where Thor deals with things like how weird people are when they are on the phone and whether or not his frisbee is alive. It also goes into his fear of being a "bad dog" (which is completely intolerable for him) This sounds extremely silly but the author pulls it off beautifully.

The makers of "Bad Moon" failed to capture the viewpoint of the book. What we are left with is a kind of twisted episode of "Lassie" or "Rin-Tin-Tin" where you have a well trained dog performing some tricks that save the imperilled humans. It doesn't work at all and I wonder why the filmmakers even bothered with the story when the whole point of the book was the point of view.

Read the book. It's short, fun and much, much better than the movie.

This excellent movie deals with issues of identity, death and family. It is also a very funny and gentle fantasy (set in contemporary times) about two Irish boys and their magical horse.

This may sound silly to many. I wouldn't even fault anyone for having passed on it during its initial theatrical release or for passing it by in the video store. The marketing of this movie made it seem like a wacky, silly movie about kids getting into and out of several situations with their horse. The only reason I even saw it was faith in the cast and crew. I feel I was well rewarded.

The performances are exceptional. The two boys behave in a completely natural way without resorting to traditional "cutesy" mannerisms and expressions (which isn't to say the movie does not have its cute moments. ..it's just that they don't seem forced when they happen). Gabriel Byrne's performance is absolutely beautiful. Even though the movie is about the kids and the horse (at first glance) it really is about him and his character's denial of what he really is and how he is set right again.

The cinematography, direction and music are all superb. You won't be disappointed if you just give it a chance.

A really great movie. The performances are uniformly magnificent. Bruce Willis surprised me at James Cole. I cannot imagine anyone else in this role. He's perfect in his use of body language and in how he modulates his voice. He manages to appear dangerous and extremely vulnerable and damaged at the same time. The plot is engaging particularly once you begin to believe that Cole might really be insane and this is all part of his delusion. The movie as a whole is beautifully put together and may be one of the best Science Fiction movies ever (even without the flashy effects).