Little flair in terrier's tale

Sad to say, this fictional account of the travails of the real-life terrier who, in the mid-19th century, sat by his master's grave in Edinburgh for 14 years, botches its opportunities pretty thoroughly. It is poorly written, put together with little flair and so slow as to be sleepworthy.

Nothing like as good as the recent Lassie adaptation, it features a wicked and
exploitative mill owner, a nice clergyman desperate to improve slum conditions and, in a cameo role, Christopher Lee as the Lord Provost of Edinburgh who is made to give the dog the freedom of the city.

It's at least well-shot in sepia tones by Steve Tickner and decked out convincingly in period costume. The terrier is nice, too, though not given a credit. Otherwise, the flow of the story is desperately uneven and one wonders whether today's children will fall for its uncertain, very old-fashioned charms.

Greyfriars Bobby
Cert: PG