Old Yeller

 I have never seen this film before, but I certainly know the story. How can one grow up in North America and not know the story of old Yeller? If you take out the long introduction song and the end credit songs, this would be a movie which would stand up today. And those two things are, opinion, its only flaws. The writing is quite well done, and the directing is excellent. The film centers around a pair of brothers' bond with a dog. In a lot of Disney films, child acting is rather wooden and idealized, but not in this film. Ellis, the younger brother, acts like a whiny younger brother and often doesn't understand the border between reality and imagination. But the family realizes that he seems to be a sensitive soul and are understanding about this. The older brother, Travis, is trying to replace an absent father but is thrown into a circumstance which is beyond his emotional maturity. There's a great scene after Travis has buried the dog where he's talking to his father, and he's just emotionally devastated by what he had to do. And his father says a lot of things which are emotional platitudes, but he also seems to understand the pain that his son is going through, it's a really well written and directed and acted scene. Another great moment of acting and directing and writing is in the scene where Travis thinks old Yeller might not have rabies and the dog is in quarantine and starts to growl at him like a mad dog. There's a close up of the boy's face, and you can just see a mountain of pain in it. If you have never seen this film, and you've been avoiding it because you know what happens in the movie I would suggest still watching it. It's one of the best movies about the bond between a person and their dog. It kind of reminds me of Marley and Me, and while that is a great story, this one is much better.