A Dog’s Purpose (Universal Pictures, 2017)
Making A Dog’s Purpose into a movie probably sounded like a really good idea on paper.
After all, the novel (originally written by W. Bruce Cameron in 2010) was a #1 New York Times bestseller, selling over 2.5 million copies and inspiring Cameron to write two more books, entitled A Dog’s Journey and A Dog’s Way Home, the former of which peaked at #79 on the NYT bestseller list.[1] Numbers, as they say, don’t lie – and if book sales are any determination, it’s clear that there are millions of people who love Cameron’s tale of a dog with multiple lives, continuously searching for its meaning and an understanding of where, exactly, it fits into a mostly human-filled world. I was one of those people who loved Cameron’s written version of A Dog’s Purpose, and I still am; but, unfortunately, I cannot say that I feel the same way about Hallström’s film.
It is important for me to note, first, that this review has not been biased by the so-called “animal cruelty” controversy that exploded over the internet and social media a few short weeks before the film was released in theaters.[2] There are multiple sides and angles to every story, and it seems that the footage that was released showing an unwilling doggy actor being thrown into cold, churning water was meant only to represent the viewpoint and agenda of one group; as such, I did my best to go into A Dog’s Purpose with as open a mind as possible. Regardless of my feelings on animal actors, however, I still walked out of A Dog’s Purpose with a bad taste in my mouth – or, more accurately, a rather pervasive ache in my teeth.
A Dog’s Purpose (Universal Pictures, 2017)
The film tells the story of Bailey (narrated by Josh Gad, also known as the voice of Olaf from Frozen [2013]), a thoroughly lovable mutt who is reincarnated several times as different dogs that have various owners and life experiences. As Bailey, he belongs to Ethan, an all-American farm boy (he’s even the quarterback of his high school football team), with whom Bailey forms an incredibly close bond. When Bailey dies, he is reincarnated as Ellie, a police dog – Ellie, then, of course, also dies, and Bailey is reincarnated again and again. While there are certain aspects of the story itself that straddle the border between sentimental and sappy, in his novel Cameron largely avoids the usual trappings that more maudlin books and films seem to fall into far too often; think, more My Dog Skip (2000), less Marley and Me (2008). Hallström’s film, however, tosses aside all of Cameron’s carefully edged sentimentalities and dives headfirst into a river of mush instead, without a care in the world, as if his biggest goal with his rendition of A Dog’s Purpose was to elicit enough salty tears from his viewers to fill a swimming pool much larger than the one that gave his film so much bad press prior to its theatrical release.
Honestly? Whoever released that footage sort of did Hallström a favor – it was, by far, the most exciting thing about the entire film.
A Dog’s Purpose (Universal Pictures, 2017)
Don’t get me wrong, here. The film was not without its merits. The thing that I probably enjoyed the most about the film was its casting — Gad’s friendly, recognizable voice seemed like an excellent fit as Bailey (and, by extension, as the film’s narrator) and KJ Apa (also known as Archie Andrews on the new show Riverdale) is just handsome enough to serve as a perfect boy-next-door. Even Dennis Quaid, perhaps the most predictable casting choice, falls naturally into his role as an older version of Ethan – once again, Quaid is the “dad” of the movie, which makes sense and suits him. I also appreciated the fact that, in its casting, the film seemed to make a conscious effort to use diverse actors, with two of the main characters being cast as African Americans. The dogs, of course, are adorable, and the score is also decent (which makes sense considering it was done by Rachel Portman, a fairly seasoned composer who is probably best known for scoring the film Chocolat [2000]). And there are certainly parts of the film where the plot itself is able to shine through the haze of maple syrup that Hallström drizzled everywhere, and make its viewers pause, if only to say “Aww” a few times and hug their own dogs close. I would be lying if I said that, as a dog owner and lover myself, the film did not make me tear up at least once (okay, maybe a few times).
The New York Times called A Dog’s Purpose “clumsily manipulative dreck.”[3] In my eyes, that’s a bit harsh. If you go into A Dog’s Purpose knowing that it will be merely a feel-good film, not expecting it to make you consider, even for a moment, anything that is negative, then you’ll probably like it just fine. Even better, if you go into A Dog’s Purpose with the expectation that it will be just as sappy as Hallström’s adaptations of Nicholas Sparks’s love stories (including Dear John [2010] and Safe Haven [2013]), you might actually walk out of the theater with a smile on your face. To me, however, Hallström’s steadfast devotion to the creation of a halo of positivity around this film (which is most readily apparent in the way that Hallström and the film’s writers chose to end it, completely removing the aspect of the novel that was the most poignant and thought-provoking) results in a film that simply tries too hard, and winds up overly saccharine. To that end, A Dog’s Purpose almost feels like a bad retelling of Homeward Bound (1993) – and, for the amount that it would cost you to rent it, you should probably just watch Homeward Bound again, instead.
FINAL REVIEW: 3/5 stars
Author Biography
Ariana Aboulafia is a native New Yorker and an alumna of the University of Southern California with a BA in political science. She currently resides in Miami, Florida.
Notes
[1] McClurg, Jocelyn. “This ‘Dog’ is best in show as it hits No. 1 on USA TODAY’s list.” USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, n.d. Web.
[2] TMZ. “‘A Dog’s Purpose’ Video Shows Terrified German Shepherd Forced to Film.” TMZ. TMZ.com, 8 May 2017. Web.
[3] Genzlinger, Neil. “Review: ‘A Dog’s Purpose,’ With Many Lives and Many Clichés.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2017. Web.
DVD Details
A Dog’s Purpose (2017)
USA
Director Lasse Hallström
Runtime 100 minutes
DVD
USA, 2017
Distributed by Universal Pictures/Reliance Entertainment (region 1)
