Risky, funny 'Dog's Purpose' barks up the right tree
“A Dog's Purpose,” Lasse Hallstrom's boldly sentimental canine version of a Nicholas Sparks/faith-based movie mashup, answers tough questions that most devoted dog lovers haven't even asked.
Yes, dogs possess souls. No, they don't really die, they merely become reincarnated into newborn puppies.
If you have seen the terrible theatrical trailers and TV commercials for this movie, you already know this, plus every major plot point and surprise twist in the story.
I saw “A Dog's Purpose” completely cold, and I expected to witness a hokey slice of schmaltz riddled with the sort of cloying emotions evoked by those save-the-dogs TV commercials soliciting funds to rescue animals in distress.
Instead, I got a philosophical discussion on the purpose of life framed as an interior monologue delivered by a newborn puppy - not long before dog catchers put him in the pound and he's euthanized after staying there too long.
The screen goes black. Then, color swirls appear and the canine narrator (Josh Gad's animated voice, wisely dialed down below cartoon levels) returns with full memories of his previous, brief life.
In “A Dog's Purpose,” our narrator experiences several lives in a variety of dog breeds, starting in 1961 as a hyperactive Golden Retriever in a small Michigan town. A boy named Ethan (Bryce Gheisar) gets to keep the dog, named Bailey, only after Mom (Juliet Rylance) softens up reluctant, crusty old Dad (Luke Kirby).
Bailey and Ethan (now “Riverdale” star KJ Apa) remain buds through the lad's teen years, through his romance with high school student Hannah (Britt Robertson) and his going off to agriculture school after a debilitating injury nixes his football scholarship at the University of Michigan. Dennis Quaid and Peggy Lipton later play Ethan and Hannah in middle age.
If you've seen “Marley and Me,” “My Dog Skip” or “Old Yeller,” you know the obligatory farewell pooch scene must come at some point. Here, it's early so that Bailey can evolve into his next life as Ellie, a K-9 German Shepherd that saves the life of his (her?) partner, Chicago cop Carlos (John Ortiz), in the movie's most strained segment.
Then on to Tino, a Corgi pup adopted by a lovable college student (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), and next up Buddy, an Australian Shepherd/St. Bernard blend chained outdoors to a junked couch by owners who mistreat him terribly.
“A Dog's Purpose,” based on the novel by W. Bruce Cameron, is a cute, funny, risky movie that, in lesser hands, wouldn't work.
But it does in the hands of Hallstrom, a Swedish director who won an Oscar nomination for his drama “My Life as a Dog.” Terry Stacey's camera constantly adopts Bailey's point of view, keeping the lens low, joyously racing through fields, skimming the tops of crops and grass to the triumphantly folksy music of the great Rachel Portman's score.
Not everything works well. Five credited screenwriters almost choke the impact of their story by overwriting Bailey's voice-over narration. (When someone tries to break into Ethan's house and Bailey's ears perk up, do we really need to hear him think what's that noise?) And the movie has come under fire after a video surfaced showing a dog being mistreated. (For my take, see my Reel Life column.)
Yet, this movie gets dogs. Understands how dogs might think and how they might talk. The movie even shows us a strange shot looking at people from inside Bailey's large nostrils - because that's how dogs primarily “see” the world, through their sense of smell.
For kids, “A Dog's Purpose” might be comforting, for it assures them that when their canine buddies die, they don't really go away.
Besides, we already know that “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” The animated 1989 movie proved it.
“A Dog's Purpose”
★ ★ ★
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton, Josh Gad, Britt Robertson, KJ Apa
Directed by: Lasse Hallstrom
Other: An Amblin Entertainment release. Rated PG. 120 minutes