To start, the young boy in "Baxter" gives a highly credible, palpably evil performance as the young, Nazi-obsessed boy who comes to own this very strange pitbull suffering from existential dilemmas. The movie is also helped by the sense of dread hanging over every scene with the dog. If you've been trained to be wary of pitbulls, this movie will freak you out.

The whole thing adds up, however, to little more than an exercise in morbidity. While it accomplishes that goal very smoothly, there isn't much else to recommend "Baxter." The rest of the characters aren't very well fleshed-out, and the dog's endless yammering is laughable.

4/10.