Sun Dogs
Directed by Andrea Stewart
Distributed by Palm Pictures
Official Sun Dogs Website

The intentions of Andrea Stewart’s documentary film ‘Sun Dog’s’ are pretty clear; please the audience. How can it not? It’s one of those inspirational fish-out-of-water stories in which incredible odds are overcome through the will and determination of some good hearted folks who simply want to make their country proud. Also, it’s got dogs! Jamaican dogs! And Jimmy Buffet!

The film tells the story of the Jamaican dog sled team. (easily confused with the now infamous ‘Cool Runnings’ Jamaican bob sled team. No John Candy this time around though.) What is it with the inherent urge for the Jamaican people to prove themselves in the most unlikely ways? Well you could say this is just another example of their ability to rise to the challenge and put on a great show while doing it. Of course, it’d be naive to assume that the dog sledding team was created solely out of the love of the sport. In fact, Danny Melville, the teams founder, talks about his hopes of a Disney/Pixar adaptation of the story. For now, the best he’ll get is the short animated interludes interspersed through the film. And what about Jimmy Buffet? Well, when he’s not eating cheeseburgers in paradise he’s endorsing the first Jamaican dog sled team. In his usual chillaxed fashion, he say’s ‘I don’t know anything about racing dog sleds!’. Well, I guess that’s the point of all of this, isn’t it?

We’re introduced to Newton, a man who’s initial reaction to news of the dog sled team was ‘What’s a sled?’. Eventually he’s chosen to lead the team, training closely with a group of rescued Jamaican street dogs. This is where we’re introduced to the films selling point for anyone under the age of 12. The rag tag group of dogs are not only given funny names like Marbles, Smiley, Chukka and Bruno, but are also given their own personalities. Can you guess which one is the happy dog? What surprised me was their lack of involvement in the actual sled races. It turns out the street dogs are simply used for training, and when the team actually competes in an official race, a substitute team of professional Husky dogs are brought in. Wha? I thought the whole point of the Jamaican dog sled team was to use Jamaican dogs? Well I guess if there’s one thing I learned while watching Sun Dogs it’s that I don’t know shit about dog sled racing.

It’d be unfair to say that this film is only about cute dogs. There are some interesting views on Jamaican tourism. According to Simon Anholt, the ‘Government Advisor on National Image and Identity’, the tourism industry that’s built on Jamaica’s spiritual, cultural, and musical ‘intellectual capital’ doesn’t benefit the country’s economy as much as you’d expect. We’re also told about a high crime rate. Dr. Carolyn Gomes, Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice sums things up with an interesting quote; “I love its beauty. I love its people. I love its vibrancy. I love the fact that we are the best at what we do, be it criminality or murder…’. Eventually Sun Dogs gets into some darker territory (Not TOO dark. Dark in comparison to ‘Smiley’ the dog.) when team leader Newton runs into some trouble and has to face the consequences for his actions, which ultimately jeopordizes his future with the team. This, for me, was the most interesting part of the film.

Overall, Sun Dogs provides some light entertainment for kids while still maintaining to please adults. It’s themes are inspirational and provide some good moral lessons without the preachiness of an ABC After School Special. It’s a great alternative for those parents who’d like to expose their kids to some quality family entertainment that doesn’t feature penguins.

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