Latest Lassie film wows critics, fails to find viewers
The only reason can be that audiences were too caught up in the stresses of their own lives to have time for nostalgia. How else can you explain the failure of the 2006 film Lassie? Despite great reviews and a leading role by Peter O’Toole, viewers just didn’t turn out for the 11th film in the franchise. At the time, I was just about to graduate high school, and though I don’t even remember seeing trailers for it, I’m sure it wouldn’t have appealed to my teenage sense of cool at the timewhich is a shame.One could also wonder whether the franchise had just worn itself out. However, this film was a direct updating of both the original movie and novel, meaning it was bringing to life a story that few people were familiar with in detail. In the film, a miner is forced to sell his family collie to buy food, and Lassie ends up in the hands of the evil Duke of Rudling. Trapped in the distant fields of Scotland, things appear dim until the duke’s granddaughter Cilla intervenes and arranges for Lassie’s escape. The story then follows Lassie on her adventures home.While this is a family film, things are not sugarcoated, and the Depression-era setting can be hard to take at times. However, the power of family and friendship is what ultimately brings Lassie and her family back together. In the film, Lassie was played by Mason, a collie with no descent from original actor Pal. However, Mason overcame this accident of birth by demonstrating a wide variety of expression and characterization, bringing an almost human quality to the role. If you’re interested, do yourself a favor and check out what everybody else missedrent Lassie today and experience the classic story from the beginning.