My Dog Skip

Writer Willie Morris won a Pulitzer Prize for North Toward Home, his 1967 memoir about growing up in Yazoo, MS, and director Jay Russell's adaptation mines the same territory, while focusing on the terrifically personable dog young Willie received in 1942. A shy boy who'd rather read than play sports, eight-year-old Willie (Frankie Muniz) has trouble making friends. Then along comes Skip, who's unafraid of girls, grownups and graveyards as only a dog can be. Skip emboldens Willie to talk to Rivers Applewhite (Caitlin Wachs), the prettiest girl in town, and wins over the tough kids who used to mock Willie as a sissy. When they dare Willie to spend the night i...