 April
2003
This month's review:
Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington (1939)
My Dog Skip (2000)
Two Gems: An Old and a New
Few experiences compare to seeing a good movie on the big screen,
but videos can also be mighty affecting. This month we’ll take a
look at two movie gems on video: the classic Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington (1939) and the much more recent My Dog Skip
(2000).They’re not similar thematically, but they both have an
uplifting message that seems all too rare in films these days.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is vintage Frank Capra
and probably even more relevant in today’s cynically amoral age than
it was in 1939. The senator of a Midwestern state dies suddenly and
is to be replaced by a political hack who will take orders from the
state’s senior senator, the governor, and the boss of the state’s
political machine. Jefferson Smith (played by James Stewart in at
least as powerful a performance as the role of George Bailey in
It’s a Wonderful Life) has no political experience and is
appointed only because he is well known as an advocate for poor,
disadvantaged boys. However, the political bosses, all of whom have
sold their souls, don’t realize that Smith is cut from different
cloth.
Arriving in Washington, Smith is naïve and pliable at first. On
the suggestion of the senior senator, he introduces a bill to
establish a national boys’ camp. The trouble is, the area where the
camp is to be built is also the site of a dam on land owned by the
corrupt political boss and his cronies. Smith refuses to play along
with their slimy scheme and is soon viciously vilified and
threatened with expulsion from the Senate. His only recourse is to
undertake a one-man marathon filibuster, supported only by his
assistant (wonderfully played by Jean Arthur) and by the
vice-president, who controls the Senate.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is about integrity,
about doing the right thing, regardless of the cost or risk to us
personally. Smith knows that his chances of prevailing are slim, but
he proceeds anyway. In his words, “lost causes are the only ones
really fighting for.” How many of our political leaders today would
do the same? How many of us would do the same?
My Dog Skip is also about doing the right thing.
Based on writer Willie Morris’s personal memoir of childhood in
Yazoo City, Mississippi, Skip opens in 1942, when
Willie’s hero and next-door neighbor Dink goes off to fight the war
in Europe. With Dink gone, Willie’s life is difficult: he has no
friends his age, and the other boys pick on him. On his ninth
birthday, his parents give him Skip, a Jack Russell terrier who
becomes his best friend and in Willie’s later words the “wisest
creature” he has ever known, a companion who continually teaches
Willie about life. Willie says, “I was an only child, and Skip was
an only dog. …Why in our youth do we wish childhood to pass so
quickly? We want to grow up fast. As adults, we wish the opposite.”
So far this probably sounds like your typical boy-meets-dog
story. It’s more than that, though. Willie does something pretty
terrible, the kind of thing we’ve all done and need to atone for.
Film reviewer Gene Shalit calls My Dog Skip “a
grown-up movie for adults that young people will also cherish.”
Right on, Gene. Skip isn’t a classic yet, but it should become one.
By the way, the title role was played by six Jack Russell terriers,
including the one who was “Eddie” on Frasier.
These two movies are best seen with others present, so invite
people over. Both are easily found in VHS and DVD format in video
stores. Serve plenty of snacks, and make sure you have your
handkerchiefs out.
Ratings:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: 4 stars
My Dog Skip: 3 ½ stars
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Index of movie
reviews...
(2003 reviews through present)
Jay Maurer, a member of West Side Presbyterian Church, is
a long-term movie buff and former college teacher of The Film as
Literature. He has written movie reviews for The Good News
(West Side newsletter) since 2002.
If you have comments or questions
about the movie (or play) reviews, please contact Jay at
dramachap@msn.com.
Ratings are expressed in
increments of ¼ star.
A rating of 2 ½ stars or higher is meant to be a recommendation.
1 star: poor
2 stars: minimally satisfactory
3 stars: quite good
4 stars: superb
Criteria for determining the ratings:
- Reflection, either explicit or implicit, of Christian values,
including suitability of language and lack of gratuitous violence
- Quality of the acting
- Originality
- Unity of the entire picture
- Substance, or in the words of C.S. Lewis, weight
Other Christian movie review Web sites:
Plugged In Online
ChristianityTodayMovies.com
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