Ted: Cuba Gooding Jr.	Barb: Joanna Bacalso
Thunder Jack: James Coburn	Amelia: Nichelle Nichols
George: M. Emmet Walsh	Peter Yellowbear: Graham Greene
Rupert: Sisqo	Director: Brian Levant

30 Second Bottom Line: A successful Miami dentist learns for the first time that he is adopted when he is summoned to Alaska after his biological mother dies. He reluctantly makes the trip so he can decide how to dispose of her belongings. In trying to discover something about his biological parents, he experiences events that change his life in ways he would have never predicted.

Story Line: For Cuba Gooding Jr., this is not a comedy in the sense of Rat Race, which was something for adults, but rather Snow Dogs is a vintage Disney film for kids. There are plenty of laughs for parents, but make no mistake, the subject matter is on the level of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (which by the way, I liked). The special effects are such that it feels like a cartoon without animation.

As a youngster, Ted Brooks spends a lot of time in his father's dental office and he becomes a kind dentist who says and does all the right things when he grows up. As an adult, Ted (Cuba Gooding Jr.) lives the good life, with his sports car vanity license plates that read "open

wide." He rollerblades along the beach, greeting beautiful women and in general is living high on the hog (pork chops rather than pigs feet) in all aspects of his life. Although his father has died, his mother Amelia (Nichelle Nichols) works in the practice to help make her son's world a perfect one. Rupert (Sisqo) is Ted's not so careful dentist partner, whose main contribution to their business might be to test the strength of their malpractice insurance.

Ted gets a summons to fly to the remote town of Tolketna, Alaska to retrieve his mother's belongings, which forces Amelia to reveal that he was adopted. Ted plans on making a quick turn around trip. A man used to Florida winters is not ready for the harshness in the far north. Culture shock sets in upon arrival, as Tolketna is more dramatic than the weather, it is the polar opposite of Miami in more ways than one.

On his trip Ted meets crotchety pilot George (M. Emmet Walsh) and wise man Peter Yellowbear (Graham Greene) along with Barb (Joanna Bacalso), the waitress in the local eatery. James Coburn as Thunder Jack is the larger than life outdoorsman who seems to know more than he wants to tell about Ted's mother.

The relationship between Ted and Barb could be going somewhere but maybe not. Could they be related in a way that they don't yet know? What really drives the film toward kids, of course, is the sled dog team Ted inherits. These dogs have unique personalities and potential winning ways for the upcoming 112th annual Antarctic Challenge, a five-day race over rough terrain covering 400 miles.

Tell Me More About It: My recommendation on Snow Dogs is positive, but very marginal. There's a lot of (maybe too much) physical comedy with pratfalls, crashes, etc. that tends to negate the important issues of dealing with adoptive and real parents, self image, racial issues and personal values. Although I've never been to Alaska, my image of the state is that it has a large percentage of non-Caucasian Alaskans, especially in remote areas like Tolketna. They were few and far between in this film. For sure politically correct can be stretched too far at times, but here it appears that Disney was politically incorrect in the same sense that some movies set in New York City have almost no African-Americans in them. If this film were set in a remote town in Utah or Montana, it would have been right on the money. Since a core message in the film is about race and ethnicity, I'm surprised that these topics were handled so carelessly.

I was pleasantly surprised with the comedic performance of Gooding in Rat Race. While he was not asked to carry that film, he certainly did his share. Here, he carries the film and is really funny. I like seeing him handle a variety of material that ranges from Men of Honor, a very serious subject, to something that is far out on the lighter fare scale. The fact that Snow Dogs is aimed at children and is great family fare material, somewhat similar to The Princess Diaries, says that some of our better actors are willing to and can deliver a variety of entertaining films. This is a great way not to become typecast.

The kids in the audience at the promotional screening I attended loved the stunts of the dogs, being both funny and heroic. Never mind that Ted sits out in the open at night, dressed if not for Miami, more for

James Coburn is over the top gruff and gentle, which is another way to describe the movie…way over the top, intentionally. One is not asked to take the film too seriously and those who do will find plenty to criticize. There is nothing great about the film, yet it would be a left-handed compliment to say, "It's not bad." It is better than that. And at a time when so many are asking for films that are not gross, contain no foul language, have relationships which are sweet that parents can take their kids to, Snow Dogs wins the race even if their team was not first across the finish line.

Cuba Gooding Jr.: Pearl Harbor	Joanna Bacalso: Bedazzled
James Coburn: Monsters, Inc.	Nichelle Nichols: Star Trek
M. Emmet Walsh: Blood Simple	Graham Greene: Lost and Delirious
Sisqo: Get Over It	Brian Levant: The Flintstones