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Finn on the Fly

Directed by Mark Jean

Written by Teza Lawrence, Michael Souther and Mark Jean

Starring Matthew Knight, Ryan Belleville, Ana Gasteyer, Brandon Firla and David Milchard

Classification: PG

☆☆

Now that school's out, moviegoers of a certain vintage may be reminded of the string of 1960s and 1970s Disney gimmick comedies such as The Love Bug series, the body-switching hit Freaky Friday, duds like The Million Dollar Duck - matinee fodder in which supernatural forces, comic-book science and even a field-goal kicking mule in Gus transform the lives of ordinary folk.

Why? The retro-spirited Finn on the Fly channels such films, flipping the human-to-animal transformation gag of 1959's The Shaggy Dog and its 1976 sequel The Shaggy D.A.). In the Canadian-made Finn on the Fly, a gifted canine laps up the contents of a beaker spilled in the secret lab of Dr. Madsen (Saturday Night Live alum Ana Gasteyer), the local mad scientist, and wakes up in the doghouse looking like Alberta-born comedian Ryan Belleville.

Filmed in Regina and Moose Jaw, Finn on the Fly follows 13-year-old Ben (Matthew Knight), the new kid in town and an only child whose best friend is the family dog, Finn (Eddie, a rescued border collie cross appearing in his first feature role). Ben has trouble making friends and is taunted by the school bully, and when he and his class gets ready to compete against older kids in an Ultimate Frisbee challenge, he suffers through humiliating practice sessions.

But life takes a surreal turn when Ben comes home to discover the house littered with open bags of food and a strange young man draped in the curtain, smiling and panting and responding to verbal commands. Ben quickly figures out the strange dude is actually Finn, whom he had chased the previous day through a cat door and into his neighbour's basement lab. Ben sneaks back into the lab and discovers the proverbial "antidote" beaker, but stashes it away.

Ben's parents believe the human Finn is actually Eddie, their older teenage nephew from California whom they are, coincidentally, expecting for his first visit that day.

Fate and a bad Spanish accent cause the authorities to detain Eddie (David Milchard) at the airport. When he finally does arrive at his relatives' doorstep, he is mistaken by Dr. Madsen and her smarmy assistant Bob (Brandon Firla) for Finn, whom they have been pursuing all day.

The scientist plans to present Finn as proof of her wondrous discovery to her corporate bosses.

Meanwhile, the newly upright dog and his master are playing hooky. Finn, who quickly masters human speech (hours lying in front of the Discovery Channel help), teaches Ben and his co-ed Frisbee team some useful techniques and, more importantly, how to be part of a pack. Their bolstered team spirit helps when Ben has to rescue Finn from corporate headquarters and the clutches of the increasingly unhinged Dr. Madsen, and then help Finn return to canine form.

Finn on the Fly's retro vibe may be too innocent to connect with today's tweens - the slapstick and silly jokes are only passable. But the real treat is the shaggy-dog performance from Belleville. He literally chews up the scenery as the human Finn, exploring the uses of his new body parts, using the toilet bowl for something other than drinking and, eventually, getting stressed when he starts to learn about global warming.

In the end, however, he decides that a dog's life really is the best.