AIR BUD: GOLDEN RECEIVER
Air Bud: Golden Receiver is written by the same team as its predecessor,
Paul Tamasy and Aaron Mendelsohn, but is helmed by a new director, Richard
Martin. Using no actors from its prequel except Kevin Zegers as the young
boy character, Josh Framm, the film takes up basically where Air Bud
left off. Josh's widowed mother Jackie is now played by Cynthia Stevenson;
she is still single, but beginning to date a little. Her latest boyfriend
is a veterinarian named Patrick (Gregory Harrison), for whom Josh doesn't
care much. We are given no good reason for this except the old standard
"kid who doesn't like his mom's boyfriend" plot element. Patrick
is really a perfectly nice guy, and even Buddy (the dog) likes him.
School is starting and Josh considers going out for his school's football
team, the Timberwolves. The coach (Robert Costanzo) notices that he has
a pretty good arm and signs him up as backup quarterback. He expects to
spend the season warming the bench, but when the starting QB is injured,
Josh must step in. That's when he enlists the aid of Buddy, who, it has
been discovered, can catch a football as easily as shoot a basketball. Apparently
tossing the rules of school sports aside, the coach allows Buddy on the
team, and he becomes its star. He has his own little jersey, helmet, and
pads, and is unstoppable by any other team.
At the same time as this, we find a Russian couple, played by Perry Anzilotti
and Saturday Night Live alum Nora Dunn, who are kidnapping animals
for their circus. When they see a TV news story about Bud's exploits at
a Knicks game, they decide they must have him, and endeavor to capture him
throughout the balance of film. They are finally successful just as the
Timberwolves advance to the state finals. With Buddy missing, the team must
start the game without him.
The obvious reason for creating Air Bud was the dog's propensity
for basketball. A lame idea at best, but mildly entertaining. He would bounce
the ball off his nose into the basket, and at the end of that film, there
is a notice that no camera tricks were used. Great. But unfortunately, that
pooch has gone to the great kennel in the sky. In this film, six different
animals are used, and they're not doing anything any dog can't do with a
partially deflated football. There are a few stock shots of him jumping
in the air and catching the ball, shot from below in slow motion, and lots
of footage of him running with the ball in his mouth while kids in uniforms
fall like bowling pins. But this is not exactly cinematic magic.
The so-called comic relief provided by the Russian couple is nothing but trite slapstick, using every unfunny trick in the book. Slightly more successful at humor are Tim Conway and Dick Martin, in cameo roles as the announcers at the state finals. But come on. Aren't we just being a little too greedy here? What's more, Air Bud: The Next Generation is scheduled for release in 1999. What'll it be, golf this time? **½