Should you bring the kids? Yes, but there are a few intense scenes: Lassie gets whipped (off screen), another dog ends up dying, and a man is beaten. There's also some rough language and mild British profanities. For more info, see "Bringing the Kids" below.

THE STORY: The world's most famous dog is back. Based on Eric Knight's best-selling book, "Lassie, Come Home," this movie is set on the eve of WWII in a Yorkshire mining town.

With the war causing strife in England, Sam Carraclough (John Lynch) learns that the mine where he works is closing. He and his devoted wife, Sarah (Samantha Morton), realize they'll have to take drastic measures to keep food on the table, but their only possession of any value is their dog, Lassie. So they make the painful decision to sell her to the Duke of Rudling (Peter O'Toole), after his granddaughter, Priscilla (Hester Odgers), notices the dog during a fox hunt.

Meanwhile, the Carraclough's young son, Joe (Jonathan Mason), has trouble in school and gets whacked with a ruler by the teacher. The thought of seeing his beloved dog at the end of the day is the only thing that keeps him going. He's heartbroken when he gets out of school and she's not there, especially since his mother assured him they wouldn't sell the family pet.

Lassie manages to escape from the duke's kennel several times, so he has her shipped off to his remote castle in northern Scotland, 500 miles away. But she's determined to return home, and, with Priscilla's help, Lassie escapes through the gate, setting off on a cross-country adventure that has her seeing the Loch Ness monster, escaping from a dog pound, and falling in with a traveling puppeteer (Peter Dinklage).

With some foul language, rough talk, and scenes of death and peril, it's clear this is no scrubbed-up Disney flick. But by showing the harshness of life in 1930s Yorkshire, it brings a reality to the classic story not found in the TV series or even the early Lassie movies. Still, it's a nostalgic story with a beloved character, and the dog's adventures are by turns amusing, thrilling, and gut-wrenching.

PARENTS SHOULD KNOW: This movie is a tear-jerker and contains some intense scenes involving poverty and peril. In one scene, Joe is forced to tell Lassie that he doesn't love her anymore. Also, Lassie gets whipped, and in another scene, a brave little dog dies at a human's hands. There's also slapstick farce at the expense of some dog wardens. In school, Joe suffers humiliation and physical abuse from a teacher. A dwarf puppeteer is beaten  by two club-wielding guys, who make snide remarks about his size and try to rob him.

BRINGING THE KIDS:

PRESCHOOLERS (ages 2-5): The peril and family-in-poverty storyline make this movie unsuitable for preschoolers. Gentler choices include movies like "Lady and the Tramp," "Benji," and "101 Dalmatians".

GRADE-SCHOOLERS (ages 6 - 10): This movie has some good messages about loyalty, honesty, perseverance, and respecting animals. If your grade-schoolers are sensitive, though, the intense scenes might be too distressing. On the plus side, it's good for kids to see an era when times were really rough. Imagine having to sell your dog to make ends meet! It's a good reminder that there are plenty of kids in the world who have no dogs and will never have the chance of owning one.

TWEEN / TEEN (ages 11+): This movie is a little schmaltzy. Probably too schmaltzy for most tweens and teens. One too many scenes of Lassie running slo-mo across the Yorkshire landscape, saving various souls along the way, and being brave in the face of adversity. Then again, it's Lassie, and you don't mess with a classic.