The Movie Dude: ‘Homeward Bound’ tries to read your pets’ minds

Chance, Shadow and Sassy seek to find their family in “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.” Courtesy photo

Ever wonder what your pets are thinking? You can be in the kitchen singing a Duran Duran tune and look over to notice your dog staring at you with his head cocked to the side, a bewildered expression on his face.

Or you could have the misfortune of waking your cat up from a nap only to meet an unfriendly gaze that says, “You’re lucky I’m not a tiger.”

For the record, I’m not a Duran Duran fan, but I am a pet owner. So I am familiar with how silly they can sometimes make you feel. That’s why I picked “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” this week. It’s a family-friendly film that’s right up your alley if you have kids, grandkids, no kids or are simply a pet owner like me.

The film focuses on Shadow, an old golden retriever (voiced by the late Don Ameche), Sassy, a Himalayan housecat (voiced by Sally Field) and Chance, an American bulldog pup (voiced by Michael J. Fox.) It’s about an incredible journey the three pets embark on in hopes of finding their way home.

It begins with the marriage of Bob and Laura (Robert Hays and Kim Greist). Laura has three kids from a previous marriage and, while her two youngest, Jamie and Hope, are OK with their new stepfather, her oldest son, Peter, is reluctant to accept him.

To make matters worse, the family has to move to San Francisco temporarily for Bob’s job. Due to living conditions in the city the pets will be unable to go with them, so the family has to leave them with a friend (Jean Smart) who lives on a large, pet-friendly farm.

Bob promises that they will visit often and that when his job is up they can move back to their old house and be a complete family again.

It’s hard on everyone to leave the animals behind, especially for the children, but it’s even harder on the pets because they’re not exactly sure why they’re being left.

After a few days go by, Shadow begins to worry that his boy, Peter, is in some kind of trouble. Not content to sit idly by, he decides to escape the farm and journey back home to find Peter. Sassy and Chance aren’t so sure, but with very little convincing they decide to join the old dog on his adventure.

Along the way they’ll have to contend with mountain lions, porcupines, Mother Nature and each other. If they can’t work together then they won’t make it very far. They’ll have to learn to depend on one another as well as muster up the courage it’ll take to make it through the various hardships they’ll face. Fortunately, most of those hardships are met with a sense of humor that anyone watching can enjoy.

“Homeward Bound” was shot the old-fashioned way, with no CGI or animatronics. What you’ll see are two real dogs and one real cat doing this or that on the screen. I don’t know about you, but it makes a difference to me when I can tell something is real or fake. If it’s real I don’t have to waste time analyzing it and am able to take it all in and enjoy it. As it should be.

The voiceover work is done the same way they did it in the “Look Who’s Talking” movies. You’ll see the dogs or cat do something and hear the talking over it as if it were narration. That also makes the movie more enjoyable because some of their facial expressions (particularly in the case of Chance, the bulldog) are priceless and would be demeaned if their mouths were actually moving.

While “Homeward Bound” is geared at kids, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it. I first saw it with my parents some 17 years ago for my birthday when it was still in theaters. To this day I still watch it and still enjoy it just as much as ever.

However, if you are in need of something to watch with your children or grandchildren, this is as perfect a movie as you’re going to find. It’s hopeful, uplifting and if anything it’ll save you the trouble of having to sit through another viewing of “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.”

For those of you who are interested, there’s also a sequel entitled, “Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco.”

Can you guess what it’s about?

While it has its moments and is entertaining overall, it doesn’t have the spark that the original has. And trust me, “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” has quite a spark.

The Movie Dude, Joe Altomere of Fort Myers, grew up in his parents’ video store in Plantersville, Texas. He owns close to 2,000 DVDs and Blu-ray discs and considers that only the start of his collection. E-mail him at jaltomere@yahoo.com

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