Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I have not read the original novel this movie is based on, so I can't say if this movie is better or worse than its source material. But I can judge the movie on its own merits. The movie does have a number of strengths. It looks pretty nice, filmed on location in the Netherlands and Belgium with some good photography. The acting is also pretty good, with a child protagonist that (thank goodness) is not annoying, and the adult actors also doing well. The movie also has some positive messages, ranging from kindness to animals to encouraging people to stick to their dreams and never giving up.So what goes wrong with the movie to make it not worth a recommendation? Well, to put it bluntly, the movie is quite dull. It's very slow-moving; you have to wait until more than halfway through before some serious problems come up for the characters. And even from that point on, the movie's energy level still remains quite low. I'm certainly not asking for blazing action and suspense that's found in today's hyper-kinetic family films, but I think the story could have been made to be more engaging. Too bad - there are some nice things about this movie, but in the end it's a miss.

On May 30th, 1640, the great Flemish Painter, Peter Paul Rubens, died leaving a plethora of great works. It is among these masterpieces, The Raising of the Cross, which became the foundation of perhaps one of the most beloved Hollywood films of all time. The movie is called " A Dog of Flanders " and is directed by James B. Clark. " It tells the story of a young boy named Nello Dass (David Ladd) who with his grandfather, Jehan (Donald Crisp) reside in the city of Antwerp and make a modest living delivering milk. Nello does his best to aid his aging, ailing grandfather, who plans of sending the boy to sea or have him become an apprentice miller. Nello on the other hand dreams of one day becoming a great artist like Rubens. Unfortunately, their poverty prevents their ambitions. Instead,during their delivery rounds, they discover a badly abused cart dog lying in a ditch. With care and compassion they nurse the dog back to health and with the new name Patrasche, becomes part of the impoverished family. However, several obstacles confront Nello, namely, his grandfather's sudden death and the cruel former owner of the dog returns to claim him. Theodore Bikel plays Piet van Gelder, is the gruffy painter who befriends the boy and does a remarkable job of adding sympathetic cohesion to this story. With a touch of humanity, love and endearment, the audience is allowed a moment to believe that a single act of kindness can bring tears and inner joy. Easily Recommended to all. ****

Here is the classic Flemmish version of the "boy and his dog" tale as young Nello, apparently about 11 or 12, struggles to establish his identity as an artist amidst adverse circumstances. David Ladd, Alan Ladd's son, plays the protagonist: he was 13 at the time, but somehow managed to play an 8-year-old in his next film! Anyway, this is the real story, without all the silly, sappy and frankly unbelievable stuff and coincidences gratuitously added in the Disney version of 1999. Even the dog is more convincing! David Ladd is quite good, though his emotions seem a bit forced at times and he's certainly not "one of the greatest child actors of all time" as his filmography touts. Donald Crisp as the grandfather and a so-young Theodore Bikel as the temperamental artist both offer excellent performances. Perhaps life was indeed harder then, and as the late Douglas Adams would point out, digital watches had not been invented, but children were still considered PEOPLE: they could work for a living, enjoy the fruits of their labor, and even live alone if they chose -- or with a dog. All that is gone now. Am I the only one who questions that this is "progress"?

I went to see this movie in 1961, when I was fourteen, and it became one of only four movies seen during my life that actually moved me to tears in the cinema (for the record, the others were LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING; THE PROUD REBEL and THE STORY OF RUTH). A DOG OF FLANDERS is a superb tear-jerker, filmed on location in Holland and Belgium in 1959, but set in 1900. It stars the then twelve-year-old David Ladd as the orphan Nello and veteran actor Donald Crisp as his elderly and infirm grandfather. Although devoted to one another, they live a very poor life selling milk from a hand cart they pull around Antwerp. Nello is an artistic, intelligent and sensitive little boy who wants to paint like his idol, Peter Paul Rubens, but he has no money to enable him to study or to buy proper materials to paint with. They find a badly treated dog, left to die at the roadside by his heartless owner and take him home and care for him. Because he's been so badly treated, it takes time for him to accept them as his friends. But eventually, they gain his trust. Nello names him Patrasche...the name that Rubens had given to his dog...and he becomes part of the small family, even pulling the cart when grandfather is unable to do so any more. One day, Nello has just finished a sketch of the old man dozing in a chair outside their one-roomed hut and goes to show him the finished drawing. But he cannot awaken him and slowly, he comes to realize that his beloved grandfather is dead. Completely bereft and unable to keep up the rent on their home, Nello and Patrasche are evicted by an uncaring landlord in the middle of winter. Somehow, they have to learn how to survive without his grandfather in a harsh and bitter world. A DOG OF FLANDERS, from the 1872 novel by Ouida, had been filmed previously, notably in 1934, but never so well as this. It really is beautifully done all round and everyone connected with it should feel very proud of the result. The music score by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter is very haunting and David Ladd, who had previously given such a truly wonderful performance alongside his father Alan in THE PROUD REBEL (1958), is superb. David and I shared the same Christian name, were both the same age and had similar looks, which made it easy for me to identify with him in A DOG OF FLANDERS, which became one of my all time favorite movies. Theodore Bikel has a good character role in it as an artist who befriends Nello, eventually adopts him and helps him to realize his dreams. Beautifully filmed in CinemaScope and Color by De Luxe, this is a wonderful film and you really would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by it. I give it ten out of ten.