Cliff-Hangers are for Masochists

Ian expressed a feeling about action-packed movies that, I think, most of us experience in our youth, where the plot requires that until the last ten minutes of the film, there will be great crisis and suspense, with a cloud of danger looming over the protagonist. He was talking particularly about Benji, and Benji is far too wonderful a dog for us to be able to endure seeing him lost in a cold, exploitative world, for one hour and forty minutes, even if he eventually goes home to his doting family in Texas, safe and sound and heroic in yet another exploit. Ian summed up his Benji-Angst as follows:

"The whole movie - it's torturing me - because I hate to see him lost."

(November 2, 2010)