Black Dog MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +3 Content: -2 1/2

With so many large trucks on the roads these days, it is inevitable that someone would make a movie which is developed around them. And BLACK DOG is an exciting, action packed story which takes full advantage of the awesomeness of these huge vehicles. Ex-con and expert truck driver Jack Crews(Patrick Swayze) is working as a mechanic for a trucking company, but is about to lose his house due to overdue mortgage payments. When he is offered ten thousand dollars to drive a truck load of illicit automatic weapons from Atlanta to New Jersey, he takes the job against his better judgement. But his hoodlum boss, Red(Meatloaf), is determined to highjack the shipment and sends out a fleet of monstrous 18 wheelers to pursue him and steal the weapons. This leads to a prolonged battle on the highway with trucks and cars being pushed off the road, crashes, explosions and gun battles. And all the time, the FBI is tracking them as well.

Men will probably enjoy this film more than women, but it will hold everyone in rapt attention. Jack is a loving and devoted husband and father, and will do whatever is necessary to hold on to his house for his family. And when his wife(Brenda Strong) and young daughter are taken hostage by the man who is shipping the illegal cargo, he feels he must deliver the cargo at all costs to prevent harm to them. He is aided by two assistant drivers (Randy Davis and Gabriel Casseus), both of whom are wounded while fighting off his assailants. Many cars and trucks are destroyed as they collide , burn, explode and often crash down steep embankments. And some gun battles and hand fighting are intense. Even so, the violence does not seem gratuitous. But the language is disturbing at times, with many mild and moderate crudities and obscenities, and a few profanities. Just as disturbing is the portrayal of Jack's crooked, vicious boss as a fanatical, scripture quoting Jesus freak. His portrayal represents a blatant anti-Christian bias in the film. This offensive portrayal and the foul language earn BLACK DOG a negative rating.

Preview Reviewer: John Evans
Distributor: Universal Pictures, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608