A Different Yellow
"Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog" is a generation movie. What I mean is that every generation have certain movies made for them and this was the boy and dog adventure for teen boys in the mid 90s. There is nothing wrong with that because if I had been a 12 year old back in the mid 90s this movie would have charmed and stayed with me. But it does mean that for me "Far from Home" was a solid but familiar movie which mixed boys own adventure with the bond between a boy and his dog.
When Angus (Jesse Bradford - Bring It On) and his young brother Silus (Joel Palmer) spot a stray dog their parents let them adopt it, naming him Yellow. So when Angus joins his father on one of his boating business trips Yellow joins them and ends up washed ashore with Angus when the boat runs in to difficulty. Using all his skills taught to him by his father and with the companionship of Yellow, Angus must survive the wilderness in the hope they either they find help or help finds them.
So as I already said, "Far from Home" is a generation movie and this is the boy and his dog adventure movie for those who were teens in the mid 90s. As such it delivers plenty of familiar elements from a bit of canine chaos after they adopt the stray dog to times where Yellow protects Angus in the wild from wolves and wildcats whilst Angus looks out for Yellow. And the storyline almost plays out as you expect when it comes to Angus and Yellow surviving the wilderness with some surprisingly hard hitting scenes as they have to eat bugs, small animals and face having to kill some of the cute fluffy kind. But there are some surprises in there as well and I will admit that I screamed "nooooo" at one point when something happened and when you add the way Angus becomes increasingly beaten up with each day spent in the wilderness it does deliver a surprising punch or two.
Now all of this is good and I will add to that the casting is just as good with Jesse Bradford impressing as the young Angus whilst Bruce Davidson is his reliable self as Angus's father. But there are times "Far from Home" has the feel of a studio just making a movie for a generation rather than having great belief in it. There are times when the characters, especially that of Angus's mother fail to ring true and acts in a too controlled manner to be believable. And the whole movie lacks that sense of epic adventure leaving it feeling half finished as if the crew were under pressure to just get the movie completed rather than to turn it into a great children's movie.
What this all boils down to is that "Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog" works, it is a good adventure about a boy and his dog which I am sure delighted children during the mid 90s. But it is one of those sorts of movies which get made for every generation and unfortunately whilst entertaining "Far from Home" has a feel of not being complete as it lacks depth in certain quarters.
Tags: Dog Movies
