The movie opens with beautiful, Deep South scenery and a heart-tugging stray dog who seems to know where he/she is going even without having been there before.

Some kind of doggie-radar is directing this critter to...

None other than one of the doors of the roomy, old house on the outskirts of a small town where elderly widow, Mattie Rigsbee, now lives alone.

The dog, Mattie, and a young man named Wesley Benfield whom you'll meet later are the three main heart-tuggers in this movie.

The dog is heart-tugging just by being a dog with those winsome canine traits such as pleading eyes; a wet nose; a wagging tail; a friendly, toothy grin with a slobbery tongue; and lots of soft, cuddly fur covering a warm body.

I don't remember whether or not all of those doggie traits were actually shown, but you could just tell that they were there--and, on top of that, this dog had a special uniqueness about him/her.

The dog played a kind of background role and was only there during a few parts of the movie, but it was this dog who was responsible, in part, for making the lives of Mattie and Wesley better and helping them to find each other.

Whether you were a dog (or other critter), a family member, a friend, or a stranger, Mattie gave you generous servings of delicious home-cookin' and a listening ear.

But, when it came to the dog, she wasn't looking for a pet--didn't think it would be fair to make a home for one of God's creatures and then leave for Heaven soon after the critter (in this case, the dog) had settled in.

Mattie was expecting the Lord to return any moment now and take her Home and reunite her with her late husband.

She had even chosen the clothes in which she wanted to be buried and was putting money aside to pay for her funeral expenses.

As she told her son (who dropped in on her from time to time to share a meal and see how she was doing), taking responsibility for a dog at her age made about as much sense as her deciding to walk across Egypt.

So, she called the local dogcatcher. An interesting thing that happened to her (but I won't spoil that for you) brought this new-to-the-area dogcatcher back to her home for another visit. It was during this visit (which included a generous meal) that she learned that he had a fifteen year old nephew who was incarcerated in the local detention center. This, of course, was Wesley.

A sermon she heard the following Sunday further spoke to her and directed her to seek out Wesley.

Later in the movie, we would find out that the minister didn't practice what he preached.

Wesley turned out to be pretty much of a throwaway kid who simply needed somebody to nurture him. Mattie turned out to be the person who was cut out for the job.

Meanwhile, the dog was staying at the pound--and would be put down before long if nobody came to claim him/her.

Mattie had naively thought that having the dog go there would get him/her into a good home--a young family or individual who would be around for awhile.

Would the dog be put down? Would Wesley find a home with Mattie--or would he simply be warehoused in juvenile and be hardened up for a future adulthood spent in prison?

Watch this movie and find out.

Watch this movie and find both examples of Christlike love and hypocrisy--and other mindsets as well.

This type of movie is good for a single person (such as myself) curled up on the sofa under a nice, warm blanket with a pillow for my head. Perhaps, some food around, too. It's also good for couples and families as well as for when friends want to get together to watch a meaningful movie.

I see it as something that could be used at an all-day religious retreat at church--where there is time to watch the whole movie and, then, discuss it in both small groups and in the complete circle of people.

I especially liked the message--of what Jesus meant about serving "the least of these" and how, by doing so, you're serving Jesus.

I thought it was good that it hit home with how, too often, people just don't have a clue about what walking the walk is when it comes to serving Jesus.

The characters seemed to be perfect for the roles they played, and those next-door neighbors of Mattie's brought a lot of comic relief.

For those who remember the TV series, Bewitched, they resembled Gladys and Abner Kravitz a lot, personalitywise.

The chair and bathtub scenes were nothing short of pure slapstick.

There was absolutely nothing not to like about the movie--but the couple who ended up getting the reward of People You Love To Hate was the minister and his wife.

When I finished watching this movie, I wanted to see it again and again and again--and, when I found out that there was a book out by the same title, I reminded myself to buy it a.s.a.p. And I have...but that's another review...

This video made me feel all warm and fuzzy--and as if I'd actually eaten some of Mattie's delicious Southern home-cookin'.

There are a lot of reasons to recommend this video.

It's entertaining and--in spite of a little cussing from time to time--is family-friendly and church-group friendly.

While being a total entertainment package that will have you experiencing all kinds of emotions from laughter to tears to disgust to joy to nostalgia to love, it also teaches a lot of wonderful lessons without cramming them down your throat.

If any of you end up seeing this movie--or have seen it in the past--I'd love to hear from you so that we can discuss it.

If you do get the chance to watch it, be sure to recommend it to other people--perhaps, even write your own review of it here.

If you end up writing your own review, be sure to let me know so that I can read it.

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Created Dec 21, 2005 at 2:36am • Submit your own review...