Yet Another Sentimental

Journal For Dog Lovers

By Sandra Olmsted

This movie should get five tissue boxes for director Gail Mancuso’s expert manipulation of the audience. While I don’t mind a good tearjerker on occasion, having tears wrung out of me never appeals to me. That being said, perhaps those who have lost a canine companion animal, or maybe even another pet, will find some comfort in the sentimentality in A Dog’s Journey

Adapting from his novels, W. Bruce Cameron had a hand in scripting the adaptions of A Dog’s Journey and its prequel, director Lasse Hallström’s 2017 A Dog’s Purpose.

The story follows one dog’s essential spirit of one dog aka Toby, Bailey, Molly, Big Dog, and Max (voice of Josh Gad) as he/she reincarnates through four dog-years lifetimes, which are mostly tied to one family’s struggle to love and understand each other. The first life features that of Bailey the elderly dog of Ethan (Dennis Quaid) and his wife Hannah (Marg Helgenberger), whose widowed daughter-in-law, Gloria (Betty Giplin), and granddaughter, Clarity June or “CJ” (Emma Volk), live with them. The grandparents and parent clash over how to raise CJ, and Ethan asks Bailey to watch over CJ as Bailey is being euthanized.

After transitioning through the grassy, sun-lite wheat field of the dog afterlife, Bailey matriculates into being Molly, who recognizes nine-year-old CJ (now Abby Ryder Forston) at a shelter. CJ sneaks Molly home, which is now in Chicago, and hides Molly from Gloria, who has parted company with Ethan and Hannah.

Despite not liking dogs, Gloria eventually relents and lets CJ keep Molly. During this lifetime, Molly learns to sniff out cancer in humans and identify abusive boyfriends. After teenage CJ’s (Kathryn Prescott) abusive boyfriend causes an accident that takes Molly’s life, she revisits the dog afterlife comes back as Big Dog, a gas station watchdog. Big Dog meets CJ, now an adult, only briefly and pines for her for the rest of his life. Again, after running through the afterlife fields, Bailey worms his way into CJ’s life as Max and works to do some matchmaking, to alert a human to cancer, and to heal some family ties.

Despite the melodramatic and predictable script, good performance, especially Gilpin’s and Prescott’s, help the story of A Dog’s Journey ring with some truths and genuine emotions. Canadian K-pop star Henry Lau will delight his fans with his role as the adult Trent.

The film looks good, and CJ’s budding music career adds interest to the film’s music. Maudlinly and manipulative, A Dog’s Journey at least offers a good cry for those who desire it and Buddhism-lite for pet lovers. A Dog’s Journey, a Universal Studios release, runs a busy 108 minutes; the film is rated PG for thematic content, some peril, and rude humor.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us