The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Call of the Wild
Adventure · Family · Drama · 2020
Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail delivery dog sled team—and later its leader—Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime, ultimately finding his true place in the world and becoming his own master.
Movie details
The Call of the Wild
“Based on the legendary novel.”
2020 Adventure · Family · Drama 1h 40m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.5 / 10
Community rating
Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail delivery dog sled team—and later its leader—Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime, ultimately finding his true place in the world and becoming his own master.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Call of the Wild?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
A Dog's Way Home
Drama · 2019
The adventure of Bella, a dog who embarks on an epic 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human.
Max
Adventure · 2015
A dog that helped soldiers in Afghanistan returns to the U.S. and is adopted by his handler's family after suffering a traumatic experience.
My Penguin Friend
Family · 2024
A lost penguin rescued from an oil spill transforms the life of a heartbroken fisherman. They become unlikely friends, so bonded that even the vast ocean cannot divide them.
Storm Boy
Drama · 2019
Storm Boy lives a lonely life with his reclusive father on a desolate coastline, but when he forms a close bond with a pelican, Mr. Percival, his life takes a new and unexpected turn.
The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon
Adventure · 1997
Jack London's classic story from 1903 about Buck, a dog kidnapped from his home in California and taken to the Yukon where he is mistreated until a prospector discovers him and relates to his situation. Although the two are bonded, Buck yearns to run free with the wild dogs in the wilderness.
Eight Below
Adventure · 2006
In the Antarctic, after an expedition with Dr. Davis McClaren, the sled dog trainer Jerry Shepherd has to leave the polar base with his colleagues due to the proximity of a heavy snow storm. He ties his dogs to be rescued after, but the mission is called-off and the dogs are left alone at their own fortune. For six months, Jerry tries to find a sponsor for a rescue mission.
Lost on a Mountain in Maine
Adventure · 2024
When twelve-year-old Donn Fendler gets tired of waiting for his father and brothers to join him on the summit of Maine's highest peak, he decides to find his own way back to camp. But Donn doesn't count on a fast-moving fog that obscures the path. He doesn't count on falling down an embankment that hides him from sight. And he doesn't count on taking a turn that leaves him alone to wander aimlessly for nearly two weeks in the empty mountain wilderness.
Balto
Adventure · 1995
An outcast half-wolf risks his life to prevent a deadly epidemic from ravaging Nome, Alaska.
The Fox and the Hound
Adventure · 1981
When a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures until Copper is expected to take on his role as a hunting dog -- and the object of his search is his best friend!
Old Yeller
Adventure · 1957
Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Chris Sanders
Written by
Michael Green
Harrison Ford
John Thornton
Dan Stevens
Hal
Colin Woodell
Charles
Karen Gillan
Mercedes
Omar Sy
Perreault
Raven Scott
Pastry Chef
Wes Brown
Mountie
Court is in session
Put The Call of the Wild on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.