Call of the Wild (2009)

Directed by: Richard Gabai | 84 minutes | drama, adventure, family | Actors: Christopher Lloyd, Timothy Bottoms, Veronica Cartwright, Christopher Dempsey, Joyce DeWitt, Ariel Gade, Devon Graye, Devon Iott, Kameron Knox, Russell Snyder, Wes Studi, Aimee Teegarden, Jaleel White

Animals always do well in children’s films. Especially injured animals, which you can patch up as a child with a lot of care and love. Or wild animals that can only be tamed by you. It’s even better if you’re a stranger in the bite yourself. There is no greater confidence booster than the friendship of a four-legged friend. The latter also applies to the main character of ‘Call of the Wild’. Ryan Hale hails from Boston, where the price of your shoes determines how popular you are. In the white wilderness of Montana, a different moral prevails. By taking a dog sled ride, Ryan discovers that shoes are meant to keep your feet warm and that true friendship is more important than money and status. That’s how it goes in youth movies: spend some time in the great outdoors and the lessons of life whirl down on you like snowflakes. It should be clear that ‘Call of the Wild’ has nothing new to offer in terms of plot and morality. The film is like a microwave version of a classic dish: all the ingredients are there, but it remains a flat, warmed bite.

In films like ‘White Fang’, the friendship between man and wolfhound slowly blossoms. In ‘Call of the Wild’, Ryan and Buck barely get time to grow closer. Changes that have to be built up carefully are happening at lightning speed. The badly injured dog that Ryan finds on the roadside is as fit as a daisy the next morning, and is remarkably easy for a feral animal to be harnessed to a sled. The main character also changes without a fight from a bored woman into a self-confident young lady. A film like this should focus on the bond between Ryan and Buck, but instead all the attention is focused on an unnecessary frame story in which Ryan’s grandfather reads from Jack London’s novel ‘Call of the Wild’. The film never really gets moving or exciting, even when Ryan and her buddy Jack clash with a nefarious sled dog trainer who claims he is Buck’s rightful owner. The dispute is decided by means of a sled dog race, the outcome of which can be guessed.

Although seasoned actors such as Christopher Lloyd, Veronica Cartwright and Wes Studi play in ‘Call of the Wild’, the acting is on the mediocre side. The cast also gets little to do, because the film is populated by standard characters. The spoiled city girl, the kind grandfather who teaches his granddaughter the necessary wisdom, the bumbling teenager who wants to impress the girls by winning a sled dog competition, a competitive dog trainer who exploits his animals and cheats in every way without anyone noticing. Because of the flat characters, the clichéd dialogues, the predictable story and the lack of tension, ‘Call of the Wild’ is only fun for very young viewers. They will also be the only ones who enjoy the included 3D glasses. Better watch the film in 2D and let Montana’s photogenic landscape speak for itself. Because it has to be said, the images are beautiful. No matter how tame ‘Call of the Wild’ is, nature remains beautiful, even if it doesn’t give you instant insights.