The pooch goes by the breed name, Bouvier des Flanders, and in the movie in which he's the title character, his master gives him a pretty classy monicker. He's named Patrasche. Now, I don't know about you, but I like unique-looking animals, and the Bouvier, with its long legs, long face, beard and crown, goes way beyond ordinary.

The sagacious-looking Patrasche looks more distinctive than cute.

The dog, we also learn, works very hard: It's willing to yoke itself to a small milk wagon and pull containers around town.

Credit "A Dog of Flanders," based on an 1872 story by Marie Louise de la Ramee, with being an unusual breed of dog movie, one that doesn't cuddle up to us and lick our faces.

Patrasche may not be cuddly, but he has an abiding virtue: He doesn't speak. The same can't be said of the movie's human cast. Much of the acting in this mediocre family-oriented drama comes off as wooden. The movie also leashes a happy ending to a story that's rich in melodramatic potential. The movie has been made at least twice before.

Oh, the suffering. Imagine a homeless Belgian waif bracing himself against fierce winds, hunching through blinding snows, a boy who has lost his mother to disease, his beloved grandfather to old age, a boy scorned by his community because he has been accused (wrongly) of misconduct. He has been robbed of the love that children deserve.

What's more, the boy might be a great artist. His mentor (Jon Voight) believes in his creative powers; he could be a genius on the level of Peter Paul Rubens, the great artist of Antwerp. His mother, who died young, was a gifted artist. Presumably, the boy inherited her passion for imagery.

Director Kevin Brodie does one smart thing. He films in Belgium, giving the movie a scenic, postcard quality that diverts the eye at times when the story snoozes.

Two actors (Jesse James and Jeremy James Kissner) play Nello, the story's boy hero.

They aren't helped by an oddly assembled cast. Jack Warden portrays Nello's crusty grandfather; Andrew Bicknell plays Stephens, a mean-spirited landlord; and Cheryl Ladd appears as the wife of a local miller whose daughter (Farren Monet and Madyline Sweeten) is Nello's best friend.

Aside from the fact that the acting — Voight's nuanced performance excepted — proves distractingly variable, the movie comes off as somber and dull, and its ending, in which Nello has a near-death experience, struck me as a trifle overdone. He meets the long-departed Rubens.

No point belaboring this "Dog." It's not likely to do much business. The movie fails to achieve the magical quality of great children's fare.

The dog, by the way, turns out to be a relatively minor figure in the drama. He needed more screen time and should, at the earliest opportunity, seek new representation.