Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog

If your a dog lover who's in for a good family film full with adventure as well powerful friendship, this is the movie to see, to share and to watch it with your family over and over again. "Far from Home: the Adventures of Yellow Dog" is probably on of the best family films ever made and of course Philip Borsos' last film until his death came along, the story is really good, the characters are quite unforgettable and the music score sounds mighty epic which sounds like something you hear from a motion picture released in 1940s or 1950s during the era of Hollywood's Golden Age. but of course the chemistry between Angus and Yellow (a Labrador Retriever) is really nice and has some beautiful compared to Bingo and Chuckie Devlin from "Bingo" (1991), touching scenes that will make you cry and even laugh, shot in British Columbia, Canada and yet I recommend this to any dog lover out there who really wants to watch a perfect family/animal movie.

There is something quite special about the quietness and subtlety of this beautiful film. I don't think reviewers "got" this film. The setting is spectacular -- British Columbia. My only criticism is that the music is a bit overblown. Quite nice actually by itself, but a little over the top of the story. Nothing however can detract from the vision of the director and the wonderful acting. This film conveyed aspects of my life with childhood friends and family (and the extended family provided by Nature). It seems to say that just beneath the surface of some ordinary lifeforms, there is strength and depth. Yes! That is worth saying. I would love to have seen the film on the big screen. Jesse Bradford is great! I don't think I've seen this kid do one false thing in front of a camera. He plays or embodies youthful promise and that in-between adolescence and adulthood stage like no other actor I've seen. The same expressiveness is in "King of the Hill" -- astonishing really. Oh yeah, and the dog is great too!

"Far From Home, the Adventures of Yellowdog" is a very simple film, very much suitable to family viewing. And in this day and age, with bathroom humor and violence very common in family films, it's very nice to see a movie which can hold interest without all that.

The plot line is very simple, you can pretty much figure out the whole storyline by just reading the scene index on the DVD liner, and the acting is very basic. But where the movie truly shines is through local color and cinematography. The sweeping views of the Pacific Northwest shoreline, lush green forests, and amazing wilderness makes a viewer almost be able to breath in the fresh air. The bond between Angus and his Labrador Retriever conveys the message of loyalty and love.

While you won't get a deep storyline or a life lesson like what was conveyed in "Old Yeller"(the original boy-and-big-yellow-dog movie),you will get a pleasant 87 minute adventure away from a sea of bad reality TV, violence, and general stupidity. Worth the $10.00 you will spend on the DVD at Wal*Mart.

Angus is learning to drive in his father's pickup truck (with comic results), so he must be in his mid-teens. A mysterious dog shows up at his house, and he wants to keep it, but his parents say it must belong to someone. They reluctantly agree to keep the dog at least until its owner is found, if there is one. The dog causes problems and Angus is reminded he must be responsible for the dog. One day the father is making a delivery on the boat CORMORANT, somewhere on the Pacific coast, with Angus and the dog. The weather gets rough unexpectedly, and the boat capsizes. The father is rescued quickly but does not know what happened to his son. Angus and the dog managed to get in a small boat Angus helped build, along with some supplies, and they make it to shore. But the area is very isolated, and even though search planes fly over several times, Angus can't make his presence known. He is there for many days with the dog, but despite his age Angus has learned many survival skills (earlier in the movie Angus and his younger brother camped out in the back yard and we saw the father teach some of these skills; the father also gave Angus a knife that had been given to him by his father) and gets along quite well. After a while the food situation gets so bad Angus even eats some of the cookies his girlfriend Sara made him. The dog helps some, even chasing away wolves and later a bobcat (these were the only scary scenes, but nothing that should bother parents). Angus later starts moving toward civilization. The search team shows signs of giving up, but as in most movies like this, the parents will not let them. This was an okay movie. No standout performances, and nothing to make it better than any other movies like it, but the boy's ability to take care of himself was nothing less than amazing.

Personally this has many memories for me, as I was friends with the editors son when I lived in Vancouver in 1993 and was lucky enough to see it being edited. I still have a cut from the reel somewhere. It brings back many memories, both from seeing the film 1st hand and also from viewing the fantastic scenery of British Columbia which has great childhood memories.

Over all, it's a well shot film with some good long outdoor shots. The story is a little clichéd but what else can you expect from a family film! The dog does an amazingly good job as do the actors. They were only in their early teens when it was shot so I've gotta hand it to them for doing such a good job considering they were the main characters. There are some moments where they the supporting actors lack fluidity in their delivery and let's be honest, the concept isn't ground breaking.

If your looking for a good, well filmed family film look no further. One of the lost gems in film history.