My Dog Skip tells the story of a young nerd growing up in the southern US during World War II. He acquires a dog which turns his life around. It is a very kind-hearted entertaining movie. It raised some questions for me which make me want to read the original material, "true story" on which it was based. The boy's father is a veteran of the Spanish Civil War which would make him a "leftie" or a "Commmie"-would he really have been welcomed back in small southern town? The movie cleverly reverses the usual by making the mother the one who is pushing the boy toward boyhood while the father wants to protect him. He is given a "girlfriend"; is this modern cliché for real? It seems the gang of young thugs are just trying to help him become a boy: I'm skeptical about that too. In one scene the two children are shown riding their Schwinn bicycles on the sidewalk under the benevolent eyes of adults. Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is an 21st century habit still against the law. I don't believe it would have been tolerated in the film's era. If you like this film, you might like the French movies My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle.
Review of My Dog Skip
