A dog leash hanging on a hook in a home without a dog immediately reveals the sadness a boy feels for the loss of the dog he has loved. Owen is not allowed to have a replacement dog because of his sister's allergy to dog fur. So his need to care for a dog is shown when he needs to save a dog being used to smuggle flawless stolen diamonds. The comic trio of crooks who want to secrete the diamonds enter the story. Although very discreet with the diamonds they have a conspicuous get-away car of pink and white with a backfiring exhaust. Then there is the mystique of a mad mountain man who we can't be too sure is just a figment of Own's imagination. We're yearning for the hermit's backstory but mention of him is kept to a minimum until his role in the story is revealed. A number of the characters in the film didn't really qualify as necessary and I could actually done without them. I say this because I was feeling fatigued towards the end of the film and would have welcomed a shorter running time. But it is a nice movie with some heart-warming moments between Owen and the dog which he names Diamond. The crooks have some funny moments, my first choice of which is the head of the gang Blackie disguised as a blind nun wearing lipstick.
Review of Dog Gone
