neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Snow Dogs
	Brian Levant Cuba Gooding Jr., James Coburn, Sisqo, Nichelle Nichols, Graham Greene, Joanna Bacalso, M. Emmet Walsh 2002 Closed caption; commentary by director Brian Levant and producer Jordan Kerner; deleted and extended scenes; "Ted's Arctic Challenge" set-top game; "Going to the Dogs" featurette; "Chillin' With the Actors" featurette; "Tolketna on Ice" featurette.		Dumb slapstick. Absurd, clunky plot. Unfunny comedy with the gall to try to be inspiring. What more do you need to know? The premise? Here's a stretch: A black dentist with a flourishing practice in sunny Miami Beach, Fla., learns that his real mother, a dogsled racer in Alaska, has died and left him a cabin in the Great White North, complete with champion dog team and sled. Plus, a local character — a crotchety old white guy named "Thunder" Jack who is also a dogsled racer — may actually be his father. It ain't long before the dentist is trying to "mush" his way across the tundra with his wily, balky pack of inherited dogs. Side-splitting and stirring it ain't. To compound matters, the unwitting heir is played by the overly ebullient Cuba Gooding Jr., who never delivered a line he couldn't punch senseless. His comedic excesses work better in a well-directed, well-written film ("Jerry Maguire") or a more inventive laugh-ateria ("Rat Race"). Not this time. With James Coburn as "Thunder" Jack.