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| Edited By: Bryan Durham |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 31, 2017, 11:20 PM IST
Film: A Dog's Purpose
Director: Lasse Hallström
Cast: Dennis Quaid, KJ Apa, Josh Gad, Britt Robertson
An unnamed pup in the 50s, a Golden Retriever named Bailey in the 60s, a German Shepherd named Ellie in the early 80s, a Corgi named Tino in the mid-80s and finally a Saint Bernard named Buddy. One dog reincarnated through the years.
You wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't seen it. One thing is certain in this dog's life: death. As he changes owners and genders through the decades, he learns more about life and humans in several lifetimes than humans can ever hope to learn about their pets in one.
Bailey is Ethan's (Apa and later, Quaid) soulmate, more than he'd like to believe it. Or maybe he does. The longest stretch in the film belongs to these two and the bond sees both come of age. In Bailey's case, it happens over and over again. And you can't bear to see the story end and begin again, hurtling towards an inevitable ending. But you do, because stories about dogs, no matter how sappy, are always the ones that make you all mushy inside. Even the animated ones.
As the voice of Bailey/Ellie/Tino/Buddy, Josh Gad makes you feel for the pooch at the heart of the story. Director Lasse Hallström, obviously, is in familiar territory, having previously made two movies on dogs. This one is based on the book by W Bruce Cameron. The story broods over life and death and everything in between, about an imagined world seen through the eyes of dogs. A dog-eyed view of humanity, if you will. A good touch is the theme songs representative of those eras that give you an idea of where you are, chronologically.
Why do you watch a film? Are you the targeted audience? Will you feel ripped off and wonder if your time has been wasted? If you're the sort of person who ponders over questions like these, you'll not enjoy the film for what it is. A rather simplistically told tale about a reincarnated dog. Well, here's the problem for me. If you've lost a dog — I've lost a Dalmatian called Pluto —the pain of reliving a dog's death repeatedly won't endear you to this film, no matter how many beautiful moments precede it. And when there are ugly moments, you wince. You hope and pray they've used robotic dogs along with real ones. Emotion-wise you're pulled in, but it does struggle to sustain the sweetness of caring for a pet or a pet caring for you. If you've never had one, you'll never relate.
It's a one-time watch. And despite that, to quote someone on the internet: it hits you right in the feels.
