In reboot for Netflix, ‘Benji’ is still a good boy
It’s been a mere 14 years since the last “Benji” movie. But in dog years, that’s an eternity.
“Benji,” which lands on Netflix on Friday, is an earnest attempt to rekindle the most earnest of film franchises, which dried up with “Benji: Off the Leash!” in 2004. In an entertainment world more cacophonous than a kennel, bringing back such an exceedingly wholesome creature is a kind of a test: Can the humble, wordless tricks of a mongrel born and bred in the ‘70s still charm young viewers?
“Benji” is a remake of Joe Camp’s 1974 original, an independently released film (all the studios passed) made as scrappily as its mangy mutt star, played by the then-veteran pup Higgins, co-star of “Petticoat Junction.” Yet “Benji” became a bona fide pop-culture sensation and the year’s 10th biggest box-office hit, ranking among the likes of “Blazing Saddles,” ”Young Frankenstein“and ”The Godfather Part II.“(It was, um, a different time.)
But the appeal of a heroic pooch is, of course, eternal. There remains no better way to separate the wheat from the chaff of humanity than the moral calculus offered up by dog movies: The good are those who are kind to canines; the bad are those who aren’t. Simple as that. Unlike that prissy Lassie or that show-pony terrier from “The Artist,” Benji is beloved because he’s a flea bag off the streets. Benji is Every Dog, with just a touch more training.
“Benji” is written and directed by Brandon Camp, son of Joe Camp, and he’s aimed to preserve much of his father’s template. The location has been switched from Texas to New Orleans. The single parent skeptical of adopting a stray is now an EMT mom (Kiele Sanchez) instead of a dad. But the basic formula is much the same, down to even the inclusion of Charlie Rich’s original theme, “I Feel Love.”