Soccer Dog: The Movie (1999)

Wow! Such a good movie.

To me, this movie is perfection.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A dog playing soccer... Now, I've seen a lot of bad movies, and a few movies that were so bad, that they turned out to be quite entertaining. But there are movies, like this one, that are not fun nor "witty" not even family oriented. This movie can only be categorized as 98 minutes of plain stupidity. Imagine an unfortunate mix of 101 dalmatians and Beethoven and you'll have a taste of what this movie has to offer. I was going to say something about acting, but i see no point in it. Everything goes bad in this movie and its getting worse. At one point, the unfortunate viewer, will find asking himself if this is a real movie or a documentary on worlds oldest clichés. The ending is probably the stupidest scene ever filmed, in the history of cinema, and to not include any spoilers in this, I will only say, that if you have a vacancy for your personal all-time top10 bad movies, you should most certainly watch this.A dog playing soccer...

Loving couple adopt an orphan from a local orphanage. Alden tries to bond with his son by getting him involved in a local soccer team. However the team is poorly coached and can't win any games. When Clay's dog turns out to be a natural player he is put in the first team (at the expense of Clay) causing rifts in the team. With the team on a great cup run and the town gone Lincoln mad everything seems fine. However Clay feels neglected and a dog catcher seeks to catch Lincoln who have previously escaped him.It's not a great premise at all, but with enough tongue in cheek humour this could have been pretty funny. The story is rubbish and the core of it is dull. The main bit relates to tension between Clay and his dad, and a rivalry between Clay and another team. Both these bits are dull and nothing new. However what is enjoyable is the occasional streak of adult jokes that come up.The film's comedy come from the characters that represent various films. We have the mobster type father (just like Paulie from Goodfellas), we have the coach of one of the teams who rips off the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket, we have one of the players who talks like Vince Vaughn in Swingers – and we have a familiar face from Blazing Saddles and a referee who looks like Tony Blair! We also have a few scenes that spoof other films – the best being Ransom – but most of it isn't very good.Foley is OK as Clay but Marshall is dull as the dad. McMurray is funny as the coach and the various film spoof characters are pretty funny. However the main characters are dull and Billy Drago has nothing to do and doesn't carry much menace. The scenes of the dog playing football are daft too, and not well done – the dog either follows a ball that is obviously being dragged in front of it or they use an absurd computer generated ball instead.Overall this has plenty of funny characters but the core is really dull making this worth watching once, but don't expect it to be that good.

SOCCER DOG: THE MOVIE provides fun, diverting viewing for kids, while sneaking in some sly comedy for their parents. Sure, it's a low-budget AIR BUD for the foreign market, but it doesn't pretend to be anything else. I feel a little sorry for the viewer who expected "research"-- a little sorry, but not much more. As for the viewer complaining that all the adult characters were "baffoons," perhaps he meant to say "baboons" or "buffoons." Stars Marshall and D'Abo give credible performances. And while many of the supporting adult characters are indeed broadly-drawn, they do their jobs and get some laughs. And the kid and his dog are very effective. I watched SOCCER DOG with my young niece. She loved it, and she's watched it since. The movie entertained her

Watch out Air Bud, here comes Soccer Dog! Soccer Dog is a fun, witty, and touching story of a boy and his dog. Incredibly a soccer playing dog shows us the true meaning of love, family, and community. As a result of the dog's success, and through the love of his owners, people gain the self-confidence and happiness, to make good, though often difficult decisions. Screenwriter Daniel Forman and Director Tony Giglio have done a masterful job of weaving a complex mosiac and leaving the viewer feeling great about himself and of all mankind. I highly recommend this film to viewers of all ages.