I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This movie is wonderful, and very well-cast. I am so pleased to have the DVD. I originally had hoped to obtain the 1940's classic, starring Donald Crisp, and still hope to, in future. However, this 1999 version is great. Jon Voight is a favorite, as is Jack Warden. The fact that it is filmed entirely on location, in Flanders, is a plus, as well. It just proves that remakes of movies are sometimes just as good, if not better than, the original. And this is the case, with A Dog of Flanders. I have been to Belgium (Brussels, and Brugge), but not Flanders. Perhaps one day, I will have that pleasure. I have never before seen a Bouvier dog, and am very impressed with that breed of dog. At the end of the movie it says that Bouviers are not for everyone-I wonder why that is? I would be anxious for an explanation of that statement. Thank you, Linda Huthmaker, Torrance, California

Gorgeous scenery and decent child actors (at least for Nello) make this better than a lot of live action children's movies, but it's no Old Yeller or even a Fly Away Home. It doesn't have the period depth that the book had, and at times the characters seem to have societal views out of the 1990's (such as Alois saying that "Money doesn't make people happy," even though at that time people without money (to summarize one of Samuel Johnson's essays) had no leisure time to find happiness, as they were too busy furnishing themselves with what they needed merely to survive). I would have preferred they kept a little truer--allowing children to make comparisons between their society and past societies lets them use their minds to make their own decisions, something a lot of children's movies don't allow (you listening, Eisner?).There are some good things, though. The relationship between Alois and Nello is less platonic than any of the other versions, making the father's reaction (fear that Alois will end up marrying Nello) more realistic--in the dubbed Japanese anime version released a year or so ago, I couldn't help thinking they seemed more like brother and sister than potential lovers. In this version, they seem only a few couple years away from sexual awakening--they finally seem like the young adolescents they're supposed to be.Spoilers: Probably the biggest change in this version is the ending. Oh, sure, they still go through the motions of Nello's death, but he has a new age vision of his funeral and then returns to his body. Now here's the quandary--is it okay to do something like that? Sure, many literary and film critics have panned Oui'da's story and its ending as being fundamentally flawed--basically, just a glorified tear-jerker that is a sort of children's version of Dicken's A Christmas Carol. But it is also a religious story (in some way Nello and/or Patrasche are supposed to represent Jesus (the dog was whipped, after all), and Reuben's was famous for his religious paintings), so removing the death sort of removes the soul of the piece and renders it more palpable to our current PC/ACLU/Amnesty International public consciousness. It should be noted, though, that Kevin Brodie hints at the ending during the lovely Gypsy scene: when the fortune teller reveals that they have known each other in past lives (i.e. the earlier movie incarnations that were true to the original ending), she says something like, "You will finally find happiness in this life."

A DOG OF FLANDERS / (1999) ** (out of four)By Blake French: "A Dog of Flanders" is a sweet, gentle, lovely motion picture about a young boy's desires and relationships with his everyday neighbors. It is the kind of movie that has its heart in the right place, but the quality of filmmaking is just not present. I feel a subtle guilt for giving the film a negative review because "A Dog of Flanders," directed by Kevin Brodie, is of such innocence and kindness. But the movie has an appearance quality of an callow amateur-contrived dialogue, typical costume designs, shameless sets-not surprisingly its filmmakers are fairly new at this business. Bruce McGill ("The Legend of Bagger Vance") and the veteran actor Jon Voight are a few of the recognizable names in the cast. Many of the remaining performers are either not remotely popular or dried out has-beens, even though they do a considerably good job at portraying the tender characters. "A Dog of Flanders" has been done before, on TV and in the movies. This is not to say there's no reason to refresh Ouida's sentimental fable since most of us probably have not seen any of the previous versions. Here, we get the same kind of sappy scenes and heavyhearted noble messages, dealing with issues like poverty, trust, death, passion, self confidence, following your dreams, hopelessness, regret, mistakes, and or course, love. The film is not really about a dog, though but about a boy who lost his mother at an early age and raised by his poor elderly grandfather. The boy, named Nello (Jeremy James Kissner), finds a dog left for dead in the snow and adopts him (her?) and falls in love with both the dog and a rich girl named Aloise (Madylin Sweeten). Because of his social status, her philistine father wants his daughter to have no part with Nello. Nello also becomes friends with an proficient artist, Michel de la Grande (Jon Voight), who takes an interest in the boy's drawings and encourages him to enter a big art contest. Jon Voight is good in his role, feeling confident and classy, a major step up from his performance in the painfully rotten horror flick "Anaconda." Jeremy James Kissner provides the film with an empathetic performance that is sweet and sweet-tempered. Jack Warden portrays a character with frailty and charm. However, there are just too many familiar clichés in the plot to recommend the picture. Many kids will find it boring and tedious, as will many adults. "A Dog of Flanders" has enough spirit and the right attitude, but the rest of the essential elements of a successful movie just are not here.

A simple, pure, nearly unadulterated pleasure, with extraordinary performances and a lovely epiphany at the end. It might be the last movie of the century to representing the paradigm of what moviemaking during the studio era aspired to.