Buy it... if you love adorable, heartfelt orchestral scores of simplicity that are as beautiful as they are undemanding.

Avoid it... if a repetitive interpretation of Forrest Gump (with only one pleasant theme explored in the vast majority of cues) is too generic for your tastes.

My Dog Skip: (William Ross) Films about cute little dogs salvaging a boy's self-esteem and his relationship with his family beg for ridicule if they're not pulled off right. Based in part on Willie Morris' boyhood experiences, My Dog Skip is as tender and loving a depiction of that scenario as you will find, and it was received with moderate praise at the time of its 2000 release. A youngster growing up in the Deep South during World War II is deprived of friends, confidence, and a solid relationship with his father. Sensing his troubles, his family acquires the dog from the "Frasier" television series to help the boy gain friends and hopefully solve his ills. The outcome is never in doubt, and that point is drive home by William Ross' score for the film. Ross was among the many respected orchestrators for major films of the 1990's who were attempting at the time branch out into their own composing careers. He had already been doing that for two decades, but with minimal success; his most notable assignment before My Dog Skip was for Tin Cup and his arrangement of John Williams' Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the only major mainstream work to follow. He continues to orchestrate, however, giving familiar tones especially to the music of Alan Silvestri. Ross' approach to writing for My Dog Skip is completely predictable, and it has justifiably raised many discussions about whether or not Ross was a suggested replacement for the assignment when Silvestri was the unsuccessful target for hire. Also debated in regards to this score is the fact that it features an extremely familiar series of sounds in its theme, style, and attitude. There are half a dozen family-oriented scores from the 1990's that seem to influence My Dog Skip, and while veteran film music collectors may grow weary of hearing these ideas recapitulated, there is no doubt that the finished product still functions and is, in a basic sense, extremely pleasant to enjoy on album.