Say what you will, but that dog can shoot!

I turned on the television tonight for background noise as I got ready for work and Animal Planet was showing Air Bud. Now I understand that this movie is hardly of the highest quality, but how is it that I had never seen it before? Last year after the Suns had dropped out of the playoffs, I went on a basketball movie watching binge.

I saw so many basketball movies in about a month and a half, that I'm surprised my eyes didn't fall out. The Air Up There, Hoop Dreams, White Men Can't Jump, Glory Road, He Got Game, Coach Carter, Hoosiers, the list just goes on and on. But for some reason, I never saw Air Bud. (Or Space Jam, which needs to be rectified ASAP. But that's a different story.)

This movie is incredible. But even more incredible is how far you have to suspend your disbelief. Never mind that the coach for this middle school boys basketball team is a former Knicks player. (Because that's what I'd do after retiring from the NBA too. Yeah, right.) Never mind that the reason that Bud gets to join the team is because there "ain't no rule that says a dog can't play basketball!" Never mind that Buddy returns to his family just in time for the big game after being deserted (one imagines) miles and miles away from his home. Never mind that the bad guy is an evil clown who we are lead to believe beats Buddy with a newspaper and wants to sell him out to a beer company.

No, the plot point that I got stuck on is that the coach made Buddy a registered member of their team at some point prior to the big game. At some point, he was like, "what the hell, I'll add the dog to the roster. It can't hurt anything, and it'll be damned funny." Only, y'know, cleaner. It is a Disney movie after all.

I fully expected there to be a major plot point in which the other coach challenges Buddy's playing because he's not only a dog, but also not on the roster. And you can't substitute a player like that in the middle of a game. But no, there's a throw away line in which the coach says something to the effect of, "he's a registered player, he trains and travels with us."

Whatever.

All in all, though--a fairly entertaining movie if ridiculous. Plus, ever since seeing the Fisher King, I've really enjoyed Michael Jeter.