''Dog Gone'', also known as ''Diamond Dog Caper'', is a 2008 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Mark Stouffer and starring

Luke Benward Luke Aaron Benward (born May 12, 1995) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Will in the Disney film '' Cloud 9'' (2014). His first starring role was Billy Forrester in ''How to Eat Fried Worms'' (2006), and as Char ...

French Stewart Milton French-Stewart IV (born February 20, 1964), known professionally as French Stewart, is an American actor, best known for playing Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun''. He also played Marv Murchins in ''Home Alone 4'', In ...

Brittany Curran Brittany Elizabeth Curran (born June 2, 1990) is an American film and television actress. Beginning as a child actress, she is known for her roles on the television series ''Men of a Certain Age'' and '' The Magicians'', and for the film ''Dear W ...

, and

Kevin Farley Kevin Prindiville Farley (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer and director. Early life Farley was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the son of Mary Anne (née Crosby), a homemaker, and Thomas Farley, who owned an oil ...

. The film revolves around a young boy who rescues and hides a

golden retriever The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...

carrying a fortune in stolen diamonds from a band of thugs.

Plot

When Owen (

) and his distracted older sister, Lilly (

), are alone and their parents are away, Owen delivers the paper while being bullied by a school bully named Dexter and his gang (who harass Owen by throwing his bike, newspapers and pants off a bridge), and spends afternoons in a forest hideaway making inventions and spinning tall tales about a "Mad Man of the Mountain" in which he claims to be a scary man who used to work in a circus freak show but later moved to live in the mountains to be free. He encounters three thugs named Blackie (

), Bud (

) and Arty (

Kelly Perine Kelly Perine (born March 23, 1969) is an American television actor, writer, director, producer, and comedian. Perine attended Lake Forest Academy near Chicago, Illinois, where he studied stage acting. He spent his undergraduate years at Pomona Co ...

) who have a mistreated dog and Owen's life changes. Unbeknownst to Owen, the thugs have previously committed a diamond heist and supposedly hid the stolen diamonds on the dog's collar. With Owen's help, the dog escapes from the thugs and Owen bonds with the golden retriever whom he names Diamond. When he reads a newspaper account about the thugs' diamond heist, he soon realizes about how they are the chief suspects and how they hid the diamonds on Diamond. He takes her to the police, but the police believe that the story is not true, thinking that Owen might be telling stories about the "Mad Man" making friends with a

bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...

. So Owen decides to look after Diamond. He hides her at his forest hideaway and visits her often to feed her and comfort her. Meanwhile, the thugs are searching for Owen and Diamond. They attempt to confront him personally by showing up at his house after getting the location from Dexter. Owen escapes into the woods but the thugs catch up with him just as Diamond escapes. As the thugs explore the woods he warns them about the "Mad Man" and shows them some of the inventions he built for the "Mad Man". Owen then escapes the thugs and rigs his hideaway in the forest with

booby traps A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

for them. As he heads back to his house, he is caught by the thugs again, but Owen manages to escape from their grasp. He runs into the woods with Diamond and the thugs give chase. They trace Owen to his hideaway and search the whole area from him, but end up setting off Owen's booby traps one by one. At one point, Blackie finally catches Owen. The thugs tie Owen to a chair at the hideaway, while the thugs inspect Diamond for the diamonds. Blackie notices a band-aid on Diamond's stomach that Owen previously put on her and suspects Owen did something to Diamond. When Blackie orders Owen to show him where he hid the diamonds, he leads them to a canoe trailer, which belongs to the "Mad Man" and claims he hid them in it. Bud and Arty jump into the canoe to find the diamonds and become glued to their seats of the canoe, as part of Owen's booby traps. But the two find the collar in the canoe and toss him to Blackie, but he becomes annoyed. He tells Owen he actually hid the stolen diamonds in Diamond's stomach and that the collar had fake diamonds on it so they could celebrate the diamond heist. Diamond becomes sick when the diamonds in her stomach fall down to her

intestines The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

. Owen lets Diamond escape from Blackie, leaving him alone to fight for himself. Before Blackie gets a chance to hurt Owen, he ends up being thrown into the canoe with Bud and Arty by the "Mad Man of the Mountain" and the thugs roll down the hill in the trailer into town. Along the way, they encounter Dexter riding his bike and ends up landing in a nearby trash bin where he is presumably thrown into a garbage truck. The thugs eventually stop at a

Mexican food Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and M ...

restaurant. But they soon find themselves next to some policemen, who see the thugs whom they recognize from the diamond heist and arrest them. With help from the "Mad Man of the Mountain," Owen comes home with Diamond sick, and he asks his sister for help. Owen and his parents are at the vet to comfort Diamond, who just had the stolen diamonds removed from her. Owen learns the truth about the "Mad Man of the Mountain" from the police chief. The "Mad Man of the Mountain" wasn't any madman at all. Nor did he escape from any circus. His name was Carl Westmeister, who had been living up in the woods for years ever since his wife died from a car crash and was badly burned trying to save her. Owen is interested in keeping Diamond but due to his sister's extreme allergy to dogs Owen then plans to give Diamond to the "Mad Man" instead. The next day, Owen goes up the mountain and gives Diamond to the man, who thanks Owen from afar. The movie ends with Owen and his girlfriend watching fireworks and the two kiss. The thugs and the "Mad Man" watch the fireworks as well.

Cast

as Owen *

as Blackie *

as Lilly *

as Bud * John P. Farley as Dad * Kenda Benward as Mom * Loren Stouffer as Stand In for Luke Benward and Extra *

Cameron Monaghan Cameron Riley Monaghan (born ) is an American actor and model. He is known for his role as Ian Gallagher on the Showtime comedy-drama series '' Shameless'' and as twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, who serve as origins for the Joker, on th ...

as Dexter *

as Arty *

Denyse Tontz Denyse Tontz (born September 17, 1994"miranda rights". ''Soap Opera Digest''. July 15, 2013. p. 45.) is a Salvadoran-American actress, singer, and songwriter. Tontz is known for her roles as Cortney Strathmore on Freeform's '' The Fosters,'' Mi ...

as Meagan Todd *

Garrett Morris Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980, and played Jimmy on ''The Jeffersons'' ...

as Police Chief

Release

''Dog Gone'' was never released theatrically, but was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

by Screen Media Films and

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

on October 7, 2008.

Filming

Dog Gone is the only movie filmed in

Cheney, WA Cheney ( ) is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States. The full-time resident population was 13,255 as of 2020 census. Eastern Washington University is located in Cheney. When classes are in session at EWU, the city's population rea ...

, a small town located 16 miles southeast of Spokane, WA. Filming took place between June and September 2007 in Cheney and rural areas around Spokane.

References

External links

* ;Reviews
Reuters

The Dove Review

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dog Gone (Film) 2008 films 2000s children's comedy films Films about dogs 2000s English-language films American children's comedy films Films set in Washington (state) Films shot in Washington (state) 2008 comedy films 2000s American films