This dog film is amusing, but not because of the dog. Huey, the name of the dog who plays Sherlock, is not attractive and he can do little. His voice is also silly and under par. The reason why the film is amusing is because of the people. A very good casting choice of a ten year-old boy was made to be the lead in the film, Benjamin Eroen, who I see from IMDb never appeared in any other film. This is the only film ever directed by Richard Harding Gardner, a British actor. (That would explain why the dog in the film speaks with a Scottish accent.) The film is entirely set and filmed on location on Santa Catalina Island, or simply Catalina Island as it is generally called, which is off the coast of California. It must be the only film ever made there. The island today has a population of less than 4000 people, is 22 miles long and 8 miles wide at its widest point. It is one of eight islands in a chain which constitute the Channel Islands of California. These islands have many examples of unique flora and fauna. Perhaps because I have always wanted to visit those islands since I was a teenager, but never found the opportunity to do so, I found this film so interesting, as it shows a good deal of the island and satisfied some of my curiosity about the place. The island atmosphere of people living in a place cut off from the outside world in many ways is well conveyed. It is an 'everybody knows everybody' place, and they are always interesting to visit. It used to be possible to go to those islands to eat abalone, long ago before the California abalone were all fished out. However, abalone have now made a seasonal comeback in Paris, and at the correct time of year you can get a steaming dish heaped with the most wonderfully delicious abalone (called in French 'les Ormeaux') at the Dome Restaurant (formerly the famous café of the 1920s) in Montparnasse. The story of this film is incredibly silly and nonsensical, as are some of the characters. But that is all clearly intentional. Some rather silly 'baddies' are engaged in drug smuggling, though who their customers could possibly be is vague, to say the least. Sherlock is a police dog who talks, and he becomes separated from the detective who is trying to arrest the smugglers. He is rescued by the little boy, who is delighted to discover that the dog talks, but only to him. Yes, that is all completely ridiculous, I know, and there are no special effects to aid the movement of the dog's mouth as there are in contemporary talking dog movies. So it cannot be said that there is anything in the film that is remotely convincing. You just have to be willing to watch a movie where everything is simply silly. What a silly fellow I must be, as I enjoyed the movie.
Review of Sherlock: Undercover Dog
