From the unoriginal story, to the inconsistent characters, to the painful acting of Cuba Gooding, Jr., Snow Dogs proved two truths. The first is that Disney can successfully make and mass-produce B-level cinema. The second is that they can make Oscar-winning actors give the worst performances of their careers. Snow Dogs demonstrates fully that some people in Hollywood choose money over scripts, they choose flimsy over developed, and recycled over original. What upset me the most about this film was the use of CGI to exaggerate the dog's expressions. To me, that is a huge slap in Cuba Gooding, Jr's face. If the studio didn't think that Cuba could successfully make the audiences laugh, then they needed to get stronger talent, do not muddle the genre with CGI created eyes, mouths, and expressions on the dogs. With this CGI, I felt as if I was watching a quick fix to an already unfixable problem.
Did I go into this film expecting greatness? Not in any way shape or form. What I did expect was a level of professionalism topped with some brilliant "something" to make me utterly aware that this was a Disney film and while they may have a bad film on their hands, at least they may throw money to fix the problem. Again, my expectations were demolished. It became very obvious as I watched this film that half of the scenes were in front of a green screen, not actually in Alaska. Some of the more emotional moments were completely ruined by the horrid special effects in place. Disney has the money, where did the $35 million dollar budget go? From the CGI created dog "faces" to the CGI trees, bears, and mountains, you never felt like you were in Alaska at all, but instead warmly comfortable inside an obvious sound stage. Pay up Disney, you cheated me on this one
From the delivery of the lines, the horrid physical comedy (which never worked), to the random moment of romance, not one character in this movie stayed in character or gave us any semblance of an actual character. I watched an hour and a half of actors awkwardly demonstrating to us that they did not know their characters, that they did not know their lines, and that the paycheck at the end was more important than the work throughout the process. I place solely the blame on Cuba Gooding, Jr. What happened to him? From the opening scene in Miami to the ending embarrassing "catch-phrase", I felt like Cuba should have handed the Academy back the award and apologized to everyone profusely. There are lines in Snow Dogs that were obviously read from a cue card. There were moments when it was obvious Cuba didn't care. He showed no range of emotion, no rational credibility, and again, there was no character. Who was Cuba Gooding, Jr. in this film? Just like a Tootsie Roll Pop, the world may never know! I could easily, and sadly, say the same about James Coburn. He was awarded an Oscar as well and the best he can manage is Snow Dogs? Who was Thunder Jack? What was his story, what made him gruff, what
what
what
just too many questions running through my mind with these key actors that it makes me feel sorry for the child audience this film was aimed towards. It was very clear that neither of these actors were passionate about the story for they would have stopped early and backed away. I would have thought that Cuba (or at least James Coburn) would have put their hands down when it was discovered that SISQO (Mr. Thong himself) was going to be a key player. Unbelievable is the level of lacking respect that both of these actors had for themselves. The proof is in Snow Dogs.
What bothered me the most about this film was the lack of intelligence aimed towards children. This was a "family" film, yet racism seemed to be slapped directly in your face. There was a scene that sticks out in my mind when Gooding tries to find his real father and assumes that it can only be the other black man in town. When it is discovered that it is someone else, there is a shock in the community. This film was released in 2002, with the society that we live in why would this be such a shock to the system? Couple this with the fact that Michael Bolton brings us the "inspirational" line from the film, "It doesn't matter what color you are, everyone can have soul." Egh. Where did this come from, and is this a "good" message to send to children? This ranks right next to the feeling that Gooding's love-interest was the only woman within a 100-mile radius, and that those living in Alaska are grizzly men with bad teeth. I felt midway through this film that Disney executives were in their offices insisting on another Cool Runnings-esquire film (there was even a Volkswagen moment in this one). Sadly, with Snow Dogs their request became a nightmare.
Overall, this was a cheap film, which boasts Oscar-winners performing well below the bar, CGI dogs and background, a story that hinges on the edge of fantasy, and the quintessential Disney "bow of approval". What I mean by this is that anything can happen, and with Disney films, it will. Gooding has the finances to leave his dental practice for several weeks without worrying about missing work, he can learn how to dog sled within a couple days, saves a man's life, and he immediately falls in love with the only girl from town who happens to be a model in her spare time. For those looking for a cute and cuddly film about dogs, I would not suggest this garbage. It is predictable, pretentious, and pathetic.
Grade: * out of *****
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