I felt this was a moving picture and told an important story about how to respect our pets. With comedy from the local dog catchers to poignant observations and action by a young son who loved animals, this story shows why there are too many unwanted animals on the streets. It also shows some of the positive things that can happen to animals if people care.
BENJI offers insights into the human personality, with most of the people in the film caring about the animals. Each character represented a different type of person on the animal respect scale. the young boy was--of course--an idealistic person who really didn't understand ALL the needs animals have (including shots, spay-neuter) but just knew when they were in trouble. The Mother loved animals but was limited in what to do for them because she was frozen by how the father treated her. Then there was a very kind stranger--a man who looked like Santa Claus, who ended up having a spiritual dialog with Lizard, Benji's terrier dog friend. Ultimately Santa adopted Lizard.
And of course there was the evil dog breeder who just didn't care about his dogs (and people are really like that), just wanted to make money off of them, and if one dog did not look like the breed standard, let it die. This man was one of the most evil villains I've ever seen in the movies, as well.
A great actor.
I also thought the heavy set dog catcher, ?Stanley, the man who first started paying attention to what Benji was trying to tell them, was also a superb actor. Both dog catchers worked well together.
Towards the ending of the film, we started to cry. First when Benji communicated with his (her) sick mother and was able to convince the dog catchers to take her to the hospital. The great thing was the doctor at the shelter was interested in finding out what was wrong with the dog and how to fix her. Most shelters would just put down the dog. This one didn't, so I'm grateful that if a dog would be rescued by a shelter, this one would do it. In the future I hope we all become humane enough with animals to rescue and tend to all stray animals.
I was sobbing loudly when the mother and son were in the animal shelter and the mother showed her signs of abuse from the father. From then on in, I might as well have been a river.
BENJI offers insights into the human personality, with most of the people in the film caring about the animals. Each character represented a different type of person on the animal respect scale. the young boy was--of course--an idealistic person who really didn't understand ALL the needs animals have (including shots, spay-neuter) but just knew when they were in trouble. The Mother loved animals but was limited in what to do for them because she was frozen by how the father treated her. Then there was a very kind stranger--a man who looked like Santa Claus, who ended up having a spiritual dialog with Lizard, Benji's terrier dog friend. Ultimately Santa adopted Lizard.
And of course there was the evil dog breeder who just didn't care about his dogs (and people are really like that), just wanted to make money off of them, and if one dog did not look like the breed standard, let it die. This man was one of the most evil villains I've ever seen in the movies, as well.
A great actor.
I also thought the heavy set dog catcher, ?Stanley, the man who first started paying attention to what Benji was trying to tell them, was also a superb actor. Both dog catchers worked well together.
Towards the ending of the film, we started to cry. First when Benji communicated with his (her) sick mother and was able to convince the dog catchers to take her to the hospital. The great thing was the doctor at the shelter was interested in finding out what was wrong with the dog and how to fix her. Most shelters would just put down the dog. This one didn't, so I'm grateful that if a dog would be rescued by a shelter, this one would do it. In the future I hope we all become humane enough with animals to rescue and tend to all stray animals.
I was sobbing loudly when the mother and son were in the animal shelter and the mother showed her signs of abuse from the father. From then on in, I might as well have been a river.