Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling it "a remarkably mature and complex story about a boy who loves a dog and cannot bear to see it mistreated" and that "it deals with real moral issues: with property, responsibility and honesty, and with whether there is a higher good that justifies breaking ordinary rules".
Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, describing it as a "remarkably mature and complex tale about a boy who loves a dog and cannot bear to see it mistreated" and noting that "it addresses significant moral issues: concerning property rights, responsibility, honesty, and whether there is an overriding good that justifies bending ordinary rules".