| THE ADVENTURES OF GREYFRIARS BOBBY aka Greyfriars Bobby |
 2005 – UKDirector: John Henderson
- Reviewed by Linda
Now, see, isn't that a great story? But the filmmakers made the unfortunate mistake of throwing in the character of a boy named Ewan (Oliver Golding) in case we needed a human-interest angle. Ewan is a ruffian who loves the dog—but he can't claim to own the beast, because Bobby belongs to the whole city. We get to see Ewan's life of squalor, and his horrible working conditions (after he is left an orphan in a quite stunning scene of an apartment building collapse). We get to see Ewan (and Bobby) run from sneering bad men who always appear in silhouette. At times, Greyfriars Bobby resembles a Scooby Doo episode ("Those meddling kids!"). The problem here is that the kid playing Ewan sucks. His appearance brings any escapism into a screeching halt as you can't help but cringe at what a bad actor he is. Alas. That said, Greyfriars Bobby is an OK family movie with a nice message. Other than the kid (who is unfortunately a large part of the story), the actors all fare well with rather tame material. Gina McKee is sorely underused as John Gray's widow, Greg Wise appears as a kindly, socially-conscious priest, and James Cosmo steals scenes as the groundskeeper. Even Christopher Lee shows up briefly, seeming as old as time itself. But the star of the movie is wee little Bobby, who truly is a Good Dog that you want to see more of. It is too bad the filmmakers bothered with some of the human characters at all, because the dog is certainly entertaining enough to carry the movie himself. |
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On paper (or in the film fest program at least) Greyfriars Bobby looks like a movie that would make me burst into tears at the opening credits. Based on a true story, the film introduces us to Bobby, a terrier in 19th-century Edinburgh, Scotland. A "wee beastie", he is the right-hand dog to a local policeman, John Gray. Gray is a good man, but has a Movie Cough which spells doom. When Gray dies of consumption (or some other mysterious illness), he is laid to rest in the Greyfriars Cemetery. But initially to the discouragement of the cemetery's groundskeeper and the local priest, Bobby keeps showing up to sleep on his master's grave. Famously Bobby kept vigil for his beloved master another dozen years until he joined him, but not before becoming a town hero who supposedly united the city of Edinburgh.
