Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here, ready to tell you about one of the best films I've seen all year, I kid you not. First I must ask that you read this with an open mind, and get it out of your head that you are too cool or too old or too wise to be moved by this kind of film. Dammit, I almost cried more than once during this movie, and that simply never happens to me. So tap into your inner child, let down your guard, and let me tell you about my adventures with Lassie.

Sometimes a film can be exceptional for what it doesn’t do as well as for what it does. In the case of this current British production of Lassie--a film clearly aimed at families--the film absolutely refuses to pander to children and makes every effort to be an interesting a work for adults. It doesn’t dumb itself or its characters down; it doesn’t spare the rod in terms of the dangers that Lassie faces in her long journey from the northern tip of Scotland to a poverty-stricken Yorkshire mining community. My constant thought while watching Lassie was “When is this film going to turn to shite? When do the animals start talking? When does this movie turn into Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties?” None of these things ever happens, and as a result, Lassie is not just the best family film of the year, it’s one of the greatest family offerings I’ve ever seen.

I’m sure I’ve seen Lassie films in my lifetime (I’m fairly certain I saw the first film, Lassie Come Home, years ago), but the experience clearly never stuck with me. I know I’ve never seen the television show, so I walking into Lassie blissfully unprepared with the dog’s legend or any preconceived notions about the film, which is set just as the UK is about to enter World War II. Writer-director Charles Sturridge wisely designs this film is its own self-contained Lassie tale, set in the depressed community of Greenhall Bridge, where the mine has just closed leaving most of the men in the town out of work and desperate for money. Lassie is owned and deeply loved by Joe (Jonathan Mason, in his first film role), the cutest child actor on the planet. As much as his parents (Samantha Morton and John Lynch) swear they will never sell Lassie for much-needed money, an offer from a rich duke (the waxen but still fantastic Peter O’Toole) is too good to pass up.

The Duke buys Lassie for his sweet granddaughter Cilla (Hester Odgers), who is only a year or two older than Joe and sees right away that Lassie is miserable away from Joe and his family. The dog escapes their care a couple of times and runs back to Joe, which leads to the first of many tear-filled moments when Joe must return Lassie to the Duke and order her to stay on the estate because he and his parents don’t love or want her any more. It makes me misty eyed just remembering of the scene. The kid is crying; Lassie looks like she’s crying; and if any of you cold-hearted bastards can resist this moment (or the movie for that matter), your soul is dead.

Cilla and Lassie form a bond because both miss their significant others. In the case of Cilla, she’s misses her mother (Jemma Redgrave), who arrives on the scene just long enough to ship Cilla, Lassie, and the Duke off to Scotland to escape the oncoming war. But the clouds of war do not escape Joe and his family as Joe’s father is shipped off for training, leaving Joe with yet another missing loved one. Once in Scotland, Lassie is abused by the Duke’s kennel keeper (Steve Pemberton of “The League of Gentlemen” and Match Point), but the Duke quickly disposes of his services after Lassie runs away once again. The Duke and Cilla search the breathtaking Scottish countryside looking for Lassie to no avail. The rest of the film follows the fiercely loyal and elegant-looking Lassie, who hopes to reunite with Joe back home.

Lassie experiences many wonderful adventures along the way, as well as a few perils, and she meets some colorful (but far from silly) characters along the way. I particularly loved her adventures at Loch Ness, where she is spotted by two Nessie hunters (Edward Fox and John Standing) in a rowboat. They are so occupied trying to guess whether this mysterious dog will attempt to swim across the lake that they miss a certain slightly larger creature surfacing behind them. Okay, maybe the film has one silly moment. Another bizarre encounter is with a traveling puppeteer named Rowlie (Peter Dinklage), whom Lassie joins for a brief time in his travels. This pairing marks the only time in the film in which Lassie actually saves anybody from harm, while taking a few lumps of her own.

In Glasgow, Lassie is captured by two dogcatchers, whose treatment of the clearly harmless animal does not go unnoticed by a passerby (the lovely Kelly MacDonald). MacDonald, in turn, does not go unnoticed by a clearly smitten Jamie Lee.

Lassie’s long and sometimes brutal journey takes its toll on the dog, and although director Sturridge would never be so cruel to deny us the film’s inevitable ending, he did surprise me by making the film cross into some fairly dark areas before giving us the ending Lassie not only wants but has dearly earned. But the reunion of Lassie and Joe is not necessarily the ending of the film, and Sturridge finds a way to make everyone who has grown to care about Lassie happy.

I’m not exactly sure what it is about the beautiful Collie that has captured the hearts of so many generations of readers, filmgoers, and television watchers, but I’m beginning to understand after watching this remarkable work. Lassie is a film for the ages and one for all ages. I know you probably think you wouldn’t get caught dead paying to see a Lassie film, but I promise you, this one is worth it. Consider it the "Masterpiece Theatre" version of Lassie.

Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com