Mimi Rogers, Bruce Davison, Jesse Bradford
Cramming in a last handful of popcorn as the final credits rolled, my 8-year-old companion mumbled, "It was sort of predictable but pretty good."
Couldn't have called it better myself. Far from Home is a refreshingly straightforward family movie about the courage and resourcefulness a 14-year-old boy (Bradford) shows while trying to find his way to safety after he and the Yellow Dog, his faithful Labrador, are knocked overboard during a storm and washed ashore on the Canadian Pacific Coast. Although the boy's parents (Rogers and Davison) and the Canadian Coast Guard search for him diligently, boy and dog spend days tramping through the woods, surviving on mice and insects ("yuck" was the universal response from young viewers at a screening), and exhibiting impressive pluck.
The movie moves along and features solid performances. As for the dog, whose real name is Dakotah, it's a pleasure to see a movie canine acting like a plain old I'm-here-if-you-need-me dog rather than a furry superhero. (PG)
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