Movie Review: Son of Lassie



This past New Year's Eve, my family and I sat down for our traditional movie marathon.

One of the movies in the line up was chosen by my dog-loving-daughter (the one who has over a hundred and eighty bucks saved up for her very own pooch).

Because we watched Lassie (the remake-1994) in the summer, and loved it, she thought it would be a great idea to follow it up, by watching the Son of Lassie.

As I sat back and began to watch it, a black and white classic-turned-color-I think, it had a few very outdated moments in verse, movie sets, etc.... I started to feel that this would be a very uninteresting, or even corny, movie. but the more we watched, what got me was that, although the beginning had a few things that seemed odd and maybe to some families a bit inappropriate, my daughter (and I am sure the rest of my family) got the message that was being sent.

A man and his dog have a bond which could never be explained. It's strong, it's real and it's amazing, and it made us cry.

At ten, my dog-loving-darling did not know what was happening to her...she smiled through her tears and told me that she 'was so happy, but couldn't understand why she was crying....'

I knew why.

If you happen to be:

A dog lover
A pet lover
A sucker for sentimental movies
A sucker for movies that make you cry

My Family Recommends:
Marley and Me
Hachi
Lassie
Son of Lassie
and though I have not yet seen it myself, my husband recommends Old Yellar, for the same reasons I mentioned these other movies.

If movies aren't your cup of tea try reading Where the Red Fern Grows. I couldn't read the ending without choking up... (You may want to adlib twice when they use the word 'bitch' (for female dog) and I think there's a few other words that could be left out, but otherwise 'a very touching story'- per the dog-loving-daughter.)

While many of us would prefer not to hear sad stories, these are so real, and create opportunities for conversation about a pet's death or death in general. It surely reveals moments which can help children grow and families bond.





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