message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

          

Eight Below  Rated PG
Directed by Frank Marshall. Starring Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood.  



Photo © Copyright Walt Disney Pictures

There was a time long ago when a new Walt Disney movie would arrive on neighborhood screens about every three months.  Without exception, it would be a family-friendly serving of comfort food: nothing controversial or alarming, but good clean entertainment for children and not-so-bad for the parents who brung ‘em.  I’m not sure whether it’s the children or the adults who have grown beyond such things, but it is very hard to find an audience for gentle films (Last year’s Sky High was such a film, and did terrible business). Time will tell whether Eight Below fares any better, but it deserves some respect.  The movie is a rousing adventure story about a dogsled team left behind in Antarctica (due to inclement weather) and their fight to survive in the wilderness without human support.  The eight dogs are part of a scientific outpost team that has just recently traveled over treacherous ice and snot to assist a scientist (Greenwood) in bringing back a meteorite sample.  The scientist has suffered a broken leg and must be rushed to safety, and there is no room on the copter for eight dogs.  Their master, trail guide Jerry Shepherd (Walker) is crestfallen when he must leave them behind and spends the rest of the movie praying, planning and scheming for a way to go back to get the animals while days turn into weeks and weeks into months.  This is the kind of story that doesn’t bear close scrutiny (80% of it is far-fetched) but deals with such basic ideas as friendship and loyalty.  Each dog has a name and some distinctive personality and they communicate so well through barks and facial expressions, I expected to be reading sub-titles.  (There’s even a cameo appearance by those marching penguins!)  Jason Biggs lends comedic support as a cartographer sidekick and Moon Bloodgood is virtue personified as a pilot who is a former girlfriend of Jerry’s and may be interested in renewing an innocent relationship.  But first, they have got to rescue those dogs! The trained dogs and the masterful direction by veteran Frank Marshall are the real stars of the show, assisted by some impressive computer-generated Northern Lights.  Eight Below is what it is, a simple and exciting arctic adventure to tide us over until the big spring movies arrive.

Pitchfork Rating: Two halos. . (A wholesome, old-fashioned animal adventure.)    No pitchforks. (Although there is some responsible beer drinking as well as a few good scares involving a run-in with a leopard seal.)

 

past movie reviews