Verdict: Not a total dog, but close.

Details: Starring Jon Voight. Directed by Kevin Brodie. Rated PG for mild violence. 1 hour, 50 minutes.

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Review: A flavorful Dutch touch is about all that distinguishes "A Dog of Flanders," a pedestrian and, at times, thoroughly kitschy adaptation of a semi-classic children's book written in 1872. Filmed on location in Flanders, the picture abounds with windmills, thatched-roof cottages and delightful Old European town squares. What it lacks, alas, is interesting characters and a decent story line.

Like a lot of 19th-century children's literature, the story focuses on a poor but plucky orphan, Nello (Jeremy James Kissner, then Jesse James), who lives with his ailing grandfather (Jack Warden, hamming it up to high heaven) and dreams of being an artist. One day he rescues the titular canine after it's been abused and left for dead by its master. The two become best buddies and roam the city delivering milk to pay the rent. But they always work in a stop to worship at the statue of Peter Paul Rubens. That's where Nello meets Michel La Grande (Jon Voight), a celebrated local artist who takes a special interest in the boy, for his character as much as for his talent.

Give the film credit for having the courage — if that's the word — to stage a scene between a delirious Nello (he's been out in the snow all night) and the ghost of his idol, Rubens. Not exactly the usual fare for kids weaned on Spice Girls and "Star Wars." But even there the picture fumbles, turning the encounter into a kind of "Touched by an Angel" moment.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Cox News Service

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