Though corny at times, this is less sentimental than most boy-and-dog movies. Against the backdrops of the Second World War and Deep South segregation, Jay Russell's heartwarming family film traces the bonding between an eight-year-old Mississippi youngster and a Jack Russell terrier. The inseparable pair jointly confront school bullying, racial prejudice and a graveyard encounter with moonshiners that could have come straight from the pages of Huckleberry Finn. With Frankie Muniz appealing as the boy, Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane providing stalwart support as his parents, and Enzo, the son of Frasier dog star Eddie, earning plaudits in the title role, this is old-fashioned entertainment for adults and older children, though the under-tens may find it a touch slow and talky.

A shy boy is unable to make friends in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1942, until his parents give him a terrier puppy for his ninth birthday. The dog, which he names Skip, becomes well known and loved throughout the community and enriches the life of the boy, Willie, as he grows into manhood. Based on the best-selling Mississippi memoir by the late Willie Morris.