The school holidays are about finished. It’s time for kids to return to the classroom. That’s no reason to ignore this charming children’s film after the school bell rings.
Craig Silvey’s best-selling novel is now on screen and proves best for children aged seven through 12.
The cinema audience was mostly that age.
They were delighted, laughing at all the right moments; they were with it, supporting Annie (Lily LaTorre) and her stray dog Runt as the two compete in a prestigious dog show.
Adults will find the film a throwback to TV shows like Skippy, Catweazle, even Round the Twist with its adult characters delivering appealing heightened performances, as in stage pantomime and child actors just being children.
This is nostalgia for adults, joyful entertainment for today’s kids.
There’s a saying from filmmaking of yesteryear: Never work with children or animals.
With Runt it can be highly recommended.
Runt has many situations which compare with Rob Sitch’s The Castle (1997) with its underdog, pun intended, rallying against unpleasant adversaries.
In this movie it’s a pompous neighbour Earl Robert-Barren (Jack Thompson).
Give his name some thought.
A second villain is Fergus Fink (Matt Day), a dog show diva who’s even more cartoonish than the grumpy ol’ Earl.
Craig Silvey adapted his novel to the screen.
The Shearer family are sheep farmers, naturally.
York, 97 kilometres from Perth, looks exactly as it did in 1911, and stands in for fictional Upson Downs, an ever popular name used in Looney Toons cartoons.
A snake catcher was hired to check every filming location ensuring nothing bitey or venomous lurked.
Parched by years without rain, the land is a burnt golden because the Earl, by right of the river running across his green property, has built a dam and dried up the river for neighbours downstream.
Annie often fetches their sheep from the Earl’s property with the adorable mutt she took in, the Runt of the title with a zippy character.
Annie’s mum Susie (Celeste Barber) has a pie-making business which struggles as filled pastry pierced by a chook foot.
Dad Bryan (Jai Courtney) softens the Aussie bloke stereotype.
Her brother Max (Jack LaTorre), a daredevil, is Lily’s real life brother.
Grandma Dolly (Geneviève Lemon) is a tireless cheerleader for the family, if also a scene-stealer.
Bernadette Box (Deborah Mailman) is a retired dog trainer with sage advice for Annie about Runt only having eyes for Annie and the dog refusing to perform for a crowd.
Max comes through with a hair-brained invention.
Annie enters Runt in a Doggy Agility Course, much to the chagrin of narcissistic Fergus Fink, and then it’s off to the internationals, Krumpet’s in London.
The play on words throughout the film teases adults thought.
It’s reason enough for parents/adults to see the film with their kids or grandkids.
A persistently optimistic movie, resilience is a survival tactic, but also full of make-do, mend-fun.
It has plenty of heart, something we need today, and it’s a strong reminder of Babe (1995) with its fable storybook quality.
Time spent with the shearers and adopted stray Runt more than satisfy eliciting loud laughter, empathy, barracking for Annie and Runt, and a pleasing tingly feeling that runs through the neural body when some deservedly win and others justifiably lose.
