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The true story of a stray dog who joins his new master on the battlefields of the First World War. For his valorous actions, Sgt. Stubby is still recognized as the most decorated dog in American history.
Family movies can have a surprisingly powerful pull on the heartstrings of audiences of all ages. Whether it be stories of families coming together such as in “The Incredibles” or learning a lesson, like to never give up in “Mulan,” there is always some magic quality to these movies that gets audiences to really feel. Most of us grew up watching movies like this or have raised our kids on them, which makes it really clear when one falls short.
“Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero” has all the makings for a great family film. There’s got a cute dog, a big adventure, the right amount of humor, and the right amount of heartache. The trouble is, nothing really comes from the story that leaves with the audience.
The movie takes place in an almost storybook format narrated throughout by Margaret Conroy (Helena Bonham Carter) as she tells the story of her brother Robert Conroy (Logan Lerman) and his scrappy little friend, Stubby. Margaret takes us into the middle of World War I where Robert is in basic training to join the armed forces. While walking down the street in a parade, Robert sees a small dog sniffing around for food and throws him a cookie hidden in his pocket. This dog quickly consumes the treat and follows after Robert in the parade in attempts for more. Once back at base, the dog sneaks into training and finds Robert. The two bond while Robert teaches him how to salute and names him Stubby.
The two of them, along with their friends Elmer Olsen (Jordan Beck) and Hans Schroeder (Jim Pharr), begin on this great journey of being sent off to France to help fight the Germans as they advance towards Paris. Through many miraculous moments of Stubby outrunning trains, and outsmarting guards, Stubby sneaks on to the front lines. Though, all it really takes was him saluting a couple of Sergeants to earn his place amongst the ranks.
This is a really fun story that’s even based on a real dog named Stubby, who was the first canine ever to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant in the United States Army, but the movie just misses the heart.
One of the biggest appeals of family movies is watching the characters grow over the 90-minute runtime. The main characters learn a lesson, and they walk out better because of it but during “Sgt. Stubby,” all the characters walk out of the film the same way they started off: happy and excited about fulfilling their duty. Even Robert, our main character, just gains a dog rather than a lesson about being a stronger or better person. The most amount of growth we see with anyone in this film is sometimes they get a little sad or a little scared, but then two minutes later they’re all good and happy again. The biggest consequence of this is that it allows these characters to be forgettable.
For a lot of family movies that aren’t of the highest quality, adult audiences can even have a little fun with trying to “call it” when it comes to the plot of what happens with a certain character. But a game like this quickly loses its appeal when one guesses it right every time with every aspect of the movie. Again, making the actual story which is real and genuinely an amazing story becomes forgettable.
Between its lack of character growth and generic dull storytelling, “Sgt. Stubby” misses the mark when it comes to heart. This movie quickly goes from the type of film where everyone gathers together to watch, to being the movie one would throw on to try and distract the youngest for an hour and a half.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD Tuesday, November 11th
