大象传媒

"Based on the true story of a dog that changed the history of a city," The Adventures Of Greyfriars Bobby resurrects the doting pup whose 14-year vigil at his owner's grave is commemorated in his native Edinburgh by both a statue and a pub. You'll definitely be needing the latter after watching this twee caper, which lacks both the imagination and the resources to make much of a shaggy dog story that was hardly worth telling in the first place.

Set in Auld Reekie though largely shot in Stirling, John Henderson's film mirrors the recent Lassie remake in its episodic structure, incident-heavy script and use of familiar faces to mask the absence of a narrative through-line. Its biggest problem, though, is its four-legged hero's fundamental stasis. Where Lassie was fighting to get home, all Bobby wants to do is stay put, preferably with a juicy bone to chew on. It's a canine character flaw that forces Henderson and his co-writers to concoct ever more elaborate reasons to make him leave the 19th-century churchyard that becomes his sanctuary after his policeman master (Thomas Lockyer) falls foul of a pickpocket's blade.

"FLEA-BITTEN YARN"

With Ardal O'Hanlon as a Fagin-esque tramp, Sean Pertwee as a malevolent mill owner and Christopher Lee as the Lord Provost who comes to Bobby's aid, this low-budget production is not short of fruity turns. But even the most ardent pooch-lover will be bored mastiff by a flea-bitten yarn that falls some way short of the much-loved Disney version from 1961.