Movie Review: Saving Shiloh
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What Parents Should Know
Parents should know Judd throws a dog against a fence and
threatens to beat it with a bat. The boys think they see two
different dead bodies. Dara Lynn falls into a rushing river,
and Marty goes in after her. Both kids, and little Shiloh,
nearly drown. Escaped convicts chase after Marty and David,
threatening to hurt them. Marty makes friends with a suspicious
and dog-abusing old man.
Families can discuss how to know if an adult is safe or not. Would you have made friends with Judd? Would you have judged him the way Marty did? After meeting someone, how do you know that they're safe? What clues did Marty use? Which would you use?
Common Sense Media Review
The cover of SAVING SHILOH says it all: There are lots of
puppy-dog eyes, both from sweet beagle Shiloh and from his
do-gooder owner Marty (Jason Dolley).
Saving Shiloh is all heart with an unfortunately large
helping of earnest platitudes, unrealistic language, and little
plot to save it. Still, young dog lovers will be interested
anyway.
In this conclusion to the Shiloh trilogy, based on the books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Marty's beloved beagle has been rescued from abusive Judd (Scott Wilson). The pair are inseparable, roaming the woods around his Midwestern home together.
And that's about as clear as the plot gets. This is not a stand-alone movie. Much like Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season, the story loses power and focus as it gets further from the original Shiloh. It's still easy to see how Saving Shiloh would be an engaging children's book -- it's complex, full of interesting ideas and parables on learning critical thinking skills and good morals, and presents the world as bigger-but still as safe as-your own home. But writer Dale Rosenbloom and director Sandy Tung can't seem to winnow the story down into understandable story arcs or compelling plots. Is this a movie about a community learning to look at old Judd in a different way? Is this movie about the power of reaching out to wounded people and animals? Is this a kid-detective movie a la Stand By Me about finding a dead body? Is this a family drama? Is this a parable about the proper care and feeding of the family pooch? There are about five different after-school specials running amok here, and no one can seem to tame them.
And despite the film's claim that it's the "suspenseful conclusion of the Shiloh Trilogy," Saving Shiloh ends up being sanctimonious and rather boring. While it manages to depict some serious issues in a way gentle enough to be handled by young ones, none of the five story lines get enough traction to develop drama or suspense, and the viewer is left confused about how he's supposed to feel and why he should care. The only exception is the final scene, which follows through on the promise of the title and manages to be heartwarming.
The saving grace of Saving Shiloh is the powerful and complex performance by Scott Wilson as the wounded Judd. Since many of the other characters are as wooden as the forest around the Prestons' house and as sanctimonious as an empty church pew, the viewer grows to root for Judd simply because he's the most human.
In the end, Saving Shiloh will be a treat for those hooked on the series' earlier installments. For all others, consider the first movie in this series for context and to see if your kids warm to the story. Or consider kid-and-animal movies like Duma or kid adventure movies like Stand By Me .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
