Lassie: Critic Reviews

Maybe I'm a sucker for dogs, but my eyes welled up. Twice. Woof!

Everything old is new again in the latest film about the beloved pooch with the I.Q. of a grad student and the instincts of a boomerang.

What's that girl? What are you saying? That Peter O'Toole is more authentically barking than any actual dog in the cast?

Charles Sturridge's charming adaptation of Eric Knight's classic book Lassie Come-Home will thrill any adult who can't face another insipid children's movie about talking animals. Oh, and the kids will love it, too.

There is an unabashed old-fashioned quality to the story-telling, not quaint, not fusty, but very much of another era -- and what a relief that is.

This new Lassie is no match for the original MGM production (Roddy McDowell, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.), but there are many compensations that make it fine family entertainment.

...The collie that became a star back in 1943 can still make you cry and cheer in the all-new Lassie.

No question about it, Lassie is a very traditional film, but good storytelling, fine acting and beautiful photography add up to a solid family entertainment that never lets us forget who the real star is.

Dog and movie lovers, take note: Lassie has come home.

It's a welcome throwback to the carefully crafted family films of the studio era.

None of Lassie's adventures is told with the least bit of subtlety, but seeing as how the movie is aimed at the peewee, dog-loving set, few members of the target audience are likely to complain.

You know people keep saying 'they don't make movies like that anymore'? Well, in the case of Lassie, they have. And they've made it well.

Lassie proves to be top dog in her latest feature film.

A well-bred if docile creature.

Lassie is a dog movie even non-dog lovers will lap up.

It's such a relief to settle into a film that lets dogs be dogs, children be children, and old-fashioned movies be old-fashioned movies.

Bring plenty of hankies if you accompany your children to this latest screen incarnation of the beloved collie.

No, it's not exactly realistic. But there is a sense of moral balance in Lassie's world that's enviable. People are cruel to the dog and bad things happen to them. Those who are good to her end up being rewarded.

Schmaltzy return for classic cinema canine.

This story of a boy and his dog comes home to its roots in Yorkshire with a beautifully sensitive and traditional rendering. Using the original 1938 short story as its source, writer & director Charles Sturridge %u2013 best known for his superb work on Br

Writer/director Charles Sturridge adapts the heart-warming story with strict attention to its modest emotional underpinnings of family, devotion, and a beautiful collie.

An ode to the beleaguered people who face hardships, physical and emotional, with hopeful optimism.

A sweetly old-fashioned, tail-wagging charmer of a family film.