Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994                   TAG: 9407290049
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IT'S NO DOG

In ``Lassie'' he shows off Tazewell and the surrounding area at their best. The mountains are idealized but not tarted up with too much Hollywood glamour. More importantly, Petrie used the landscape to tell a good, simple story that ought to be popular with a young audience. There aren't many new tricks in this film, and that's how it should be. On the big screen and on television, these have always been basic stories about a boy and his dog.

In this case, the boy is Matt Turner (Thomas Guiry), an eighth-grader with an earring and an attitude. He is not at all happy when his dad (Jon Tenney) and stepmother (Helen Slater) decide to move him and his younger sister (Brittany Boyd) from Baltimore to the Shenandoah Valley. That's where Matt's mother, now dead, grew up and where his grandfather (Richard Farnsworth) still lives.

On the way to their new home, they meet the title character, and the story begins. There's no need to go into too many details here. The main conflicts involve Matt's growing up, and a greedy neighbor (Frederick Forrest) who tries to thwart the Turners' plans. But he's up against Lassie, and we know what that means.

Before the film is over, she saves Matt from wild animals, drives off vandals, shows Matt what his mother would have wanted him to do and pushes a compromise health care bill through both houses of Congress.

All right, that is a slight exaggeration, but this canine can do it all. And she (actually he, but who cares) hardly ever musses up her long glossy coat in the process. The dog, trained by Robert Weatherwax, is really photogenic. If her heroic acts strain the credulity of older viewers, that's their problem. Kids will be much more forgiving in that area.

Writers Matthew Jacobs, Gary Ross and Elizabeth Anderson treat the human side of the action just as seriously. And Petrie is able to wring every drop of emotion out of the story. He also made ``Lifeguard,'' ``Fort Apache, The Bronx'' and ``Buster and Billie,'' a cult favorite from drive-in days that dealt with similar ideas and setting.

With ``The Lion King'' still doing such strong business, and with other kid flicks arriving in the weeks ahead, ``Lassie'' is going to have a lot of competition. But it should do well. It's a good story, skillfully told. Recommended, even without the local connection.

Lassie

***

A Paramount release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Mall 6. 92 min. Rated PG for some mild cussing and violence.