Starring
Higgins, Tiffany, Patsy Garrett, Cynthia Smith, Allen Fiuzat, Peter
Breck, Christopher Connelly, Tom Lester, Mark Slade, Deborah Walley,
Frances Bavier, Terry Carter, Herb Vigran. Directed by Joe Camp.
(1974/86 min).
Forced
to endure this against my will back in the mid-70s, I really wanted
to hate Benji.
My
parents used to drop my younger sister and I off at the Southgate
Quad while they ran errands or took in a hockey game. This time, to my chagrin, they
let her pick the movie. She chose Benji, which pissed me
off because G-rated movies were stupid kid's stuff and the more
grown-up Airport 1975 was playing in the auditorium next door
(I was really into disaster flicks).
Speaking
of G-rated movies, Benji was kind-of an anomaly when released.
In an era when even the mighty Disney had trouble filling theater
seats, the G rating was damn-near the kiss of death at the box
office. Yet this low-budget, independently-produced film became a
massive hit, was re-released several times and spawned sequels well
into the 80s. How was this possible? I mean, the dog wasn't even that
cute.
But
even while stewing in my theater seat and cursing my sister, I
grudgingly had to concede Benji was a charming film. Dammit, I actually found myself caring about this mongrel and the
people he loves. I'd never willingly admit it, though.
 |
| "Hey, you kids! Get the hell off my lawn!" |
Unlike
other films passing themselves off as family fare at the time, Benji
doesn't have a cynical bone in its entire body. Even the so-called
plot - bumbling bad guys kidnapping two children - takes a backseat to the titular character's congenial encounters with
small-town locals, played by a variety of second-fiddle familiar
faces.
Grassroots
auteur Joe Camp (who built a film career with this dog) doesn't
direct with any remarkable style, yet the film's manipulative power
is undeniable. Perhaps that's because there's no question who the
star is and Camp simply tells the story through Benji's eyes without
trying to be flashy or clever. In an era when family films were
defined by buffoonish slapstick or cloying cartoons, Benji's
laid-back aesthetic was sort-of refreshing.
Four
decades on, Benji undoubtedly looks like a product of its time
and the cornball music score dates it even worse. But it's a much
better film than I wanted to admit when babysitting my sister all
those years ago. It's probably a bit too leisurely-paced for kids
raised on CG spectacle, but those who grew up with this scruffy
little dog will love the Blu-Ray restoration and vintage featurettes
(which were actually TV specials that aired at the height of Benji's
popularity).
EXTRA
KIBBLES
FEATURETTES:
"The Phenomenon of Benji"; "Benji at Work" (Chevy
Chase wasn't funny back then either).
AUDIO
COMMENTARY - by writer/director/producer Joe Camp and his son,
Brandon (who's directing the upcoming remake).
PHOTO
GALLERY
DVD
& DIGITAL COPIES (the two featurettes are on the DVD)
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...EVEN CATS LIKE THIS DOG
