Review: A Dog's Purpose
A Dog's Purpose - the biggest dog movie since Marley and Me, which admittedly is the superior movie, but this one was still pretty good. You watch through the many lives of a dog and the impact it (I say it because gender is fluid for this dog, though always has a male inner monologue) has on those it comes in contact with.
My best interpretation of this film is that it is the life stages of a human being told through multiple lives for a dog. I won’t go too far into detail but the general stages are childhood, adolescence, work, family and growing old. It is quite the interesting way to do this, especially with a dog constantly asking what is life’s purpose and what is the dog’s purpose…much as we humans do.
Though before I get too deep into this, I just want to address the controversial video that circulated before the film’s release causing a cancellation of the red carpet premier and press junket. A detailed statement explained the clearly edited video was released and I’ll include a link to the statement here.
Now onto the actual review:
So much lead up for so little pay off
In the last couple of days when I’ve been asked how the movie was the word I keep repeating is ‘cute’ and I think it’s the most accurate description. There are some ‘deep’ moments in this movie however since it’s a series of vignettes the majority of the movie is told in a rather simplistic way which I guess would be my greatest complaint about the movie. I knew going in that it was going to happen this way, and it’s clear the Ethan story (since it’s basically the beginning and the end) is going to be the most fleshed out. However the middle stories, especially the next two I feel suffer because of this. You get the most general rudimentary idea of their lives and for the cop story there is pretty much zero closure. For a movie that does consistently work at keeping it’s lighthearted mood, this one was largely dark and was not really improved by the end. Since this was the ‘work’ installment I suppose it is reflecting life in that way.
Rinse and repeat.
Getting back to the cuteness of the movie, it was indeed its benefit. Though it would have made for a more impactful film if the vignettes were more fleshed out, it also would have taken away from the adorable nature of the film. If more time were spent on the characters in the vignettes we would have lost scenes of the dog doing silly things like mentioning how he feels bad for the cat because it’s upset it’s not a dog, or all his time playing with Horse-dog (a Donkey) which provided a good many of the worthwhile laughs in the movie.
The dog Bailey (this is the name most commonly used and the life he seems to consider his primary) voiced by Josh Gad (best known for his voice work as Olaf in Frozen) is hilarious. Many of the jokes are typical dog doesn’t understand human behavior jokes, but they’re hilarious to anyone who has ever had a dog or even just been near one. One of the high points in when the dog is chasing the cat because he wants to give it ‘dog lessons’ – or more accurately assumes the cat wants them.
The main story of Ethan is arguably the best, as he has the most screen time it is the most fleshed out. You do get invested with him and his family life as well as his relationship with his girlfriend. Though towards the end of the first vignette starring Ethan you can infer most of his feelings but it does start to degrade in story-telling rushing through his decisions without really allowing the story to explain them.
In the end however I do think this movie is worth-while for a nice evening of laughter and a few tears. Snuggle up to your pup and find out a dog’s purpose. 3 horse-dogs out of 5.