Watch it at Amazon
7 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Funny family flick....., 27 February 2001 Author: BuddyBoy-2 from Nashville, TN
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
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Not as bad as it would seem..., 22 July 2007 Author: TrueTenorOne from United States
OK... yes, it's a movie about a dog playing soccer. Yes, its attempts at portraying a very evil dog catcher fall flatter than every opposing soccer player seems to when the dog comes their way. And yes, most of its attempts at humor fail.However, if you go out and rent a movie like this or watch it on TV expecting a masterpiece, what universe are you living in? Has any movie about animals playing sports ever really been that great? Apologies to all of the Air Bud fans out there, but even that movie wasn't all that great, and it's the Godfather of animal athlete movies. So, if you're holding Soccer Dog up to the standards set by other movies like it, you will find that it is actually fairly decent.A man named Alden, once an orphan, is now happily married and living in a soccer-crazed town called Crocker. However, since he was once an orphan, he feels that it is his duty to adopt from the same orphanage. In comes Clay, the shy, chronically depressed young boy they adopt. This movie spends a little too much time being melodramatic with the attempt at chronicling the difficulties of parenting, but oh well. Clay joins the soccer team at his father's request, becoming the laughing stock of his team and the opposing team for his ignorance of the game they hold sacred. Just when all hope seems lost for Clay to fit in, he finds a dog. What happens? Lincoln happens to score a goal during a game and quickly becomes the town's biggest sensation since the sport of soccer was invented.My favorite character in this whole movie would have to be the coach. I think he may save some of the movie with his "stand-out" humor, meaning he is the only one who is truly funny. Fans of old Nickelodeon TV shows may also recognize the referee as the head counselor from "Salute Your Shorts", making it even more enjoyable. And no movie is complete without a David Hasselhoff joke, and even Soccer Dog pulls that off.All in all, not a bad attempt at a genre that never should have happened in the first place. 7/10
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Soccer Dog Rules!, 23 December 1999 Author: Sue Crowley from Chicago, IL
James Marshall and Olivia D'Abo do a great job of acting while the really awesome dog rocks, too! The story goes like this, a boy who doesn't know exactly how to play soccer when his demanding dad wants him to be a soccer star... they need to call in the cool little SOCCER DOG! There are many movies like this, for instance Air Bud which goes a step further than this, but Soccer Dog definitely makes the grade!
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Brings home the bacon. (and fries it in the pan), 6 June 2005 Author: EBKenobi from Aksdal
This near-masterpiece contains some of the most intense football-scenes ever filmed. Backed up by some bone-breaking cinematography, the skills displayed by the actors, and certainly the dog itself, are right up there with the stuff Stallone gave us in "Victory" (1981). There are some pretty hard shots in this movie, if you take my meaning. The humour... Well, it's lovely. I'll admit that the razor-sharp dialogue caught me off-guard at a couple of occasions, and that's what this movie is all about: Cutting the edge on as many levels as possible."He's fast, and he can score goals."
6 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Completely off-the-wall... a thumbs up!, 8 March 2002 Author: (dogbuddy421@msn.com) from USA
Soccer Dog makes me think of the wonderfully wacky books by Gordon Korman I enjoy so much. Unique characters add a deliciously surreal tinge to the film. Very satisfying villains; one's the sort you love to hate and the other is one of those freaky-creepy types that unsettle you in an entertaining manner. It's well-conceived and just generally fun to watch. The dog, "Lincoln," is the sort of doggy main character we all love and expect from cinema: charming, endearing, and with that head-tilt thing down pat. A must-see if you love dogs, or if you get the warm tinglies from watching a good family film.
7 out of 12 people found the following review useful: A definite surprise, 16 April 2001 Author: April Waters
I look forward to babysitting my seven year-old nephew about as much as I do a root canal. So when I was asked this week to watch the wild child, I cringed, but accepted. If he's not running around like a madman, he's watching videos and TV.After having chased him around the house for three hours, we sat on the couch and turned on HBO. Luckily SOCCER DOG: THE MOVIE was playing. It not only kept him distracted and entertained for 90 minutes, but I found myself laughing along with its cute charm and sharp wit.Disregard the low number of stars you see on the title page. This is an extremely fun and enjoyable film for 8 year-olds or 28 year-olds.
4 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Some really funny tongue in cheek characters but over all a dull kids movie that takes itself too seriously, 25 March 2002 Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK
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.
4 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Wonderful, Hip, and Touching, 21 December 2000 Author: Chase-22 from Vancouver, Canada
This film was everything I never thought it was going to be. I was babysitting and it came on HBO. I sat the three kids in front of the TV and to my surprise they were mesmorized by the film. Even more shocking than that was that I too, found myself into the story.The humor, in a clever way, plays to both the adults and kids at the same time.Overall it won't set the film world on fire, but it was a fun hour and a half!
4 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Fun, Family Entertainment, 20 December 2000 Author: Frogger-12 from Nova Scotia, Canada
I thought this was a very good film. When I rented it for my nephew, I thought, "great another dog family movie." But I was pleasantly surprised. It had humor for adults as well.Nice job by the people involved.
4 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Offbeat, cool little movie., 22 September 2000 Author: guillory.netm from Dallas, TX
I really liked this movie and my kids love it. It is very hard to find movies which are entertaining for adults but that are appropriate for children... and "Soccer Dog" does both. It is very off-beat and is good because the comedy is not slap-stick driven but based on the characters.I don't normally send in reviews, but when I read the review of August 1, 2000, I found it to be completely off-base and because my kids and I found this to be a good film... I wanted to recommend it to you. I really think the filmmakers did a good job... so check it out for yourself.
Add another review
