A DOG’S WAY HOME
US, 2019, 96 minutes, Colour.
Ashley Judd, Jonah Hauer- King, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, Wes Studi.
Directed by Charles Martin Smith.
That this is a dog-lover’s tale, pleasantly done, might be enough for a review. The obvious recommendation is that those who love dogs, have their own tales to tell about their pets, will be delighted. (On the other hand, those who can take or leave dogs, will feel that they can take or leave this story.)
One of the pleasant features of the film, for those who believe that dogs have their own distinctive personality, intelligence, and even an interior voice, is that the whole adventure is narrated by Bella, the heroine, very sweetly but sensibly by Bryce Dallas Howard. In fact, her voice-over seems perfectly natural and acceptable, making the whole adventure credible enough.
Actually, Bella, before she gets a name from her rescuer, Lucas (a sympathetic Jonah Hauer-King) has been born, along with other pups, under the foundations of a building which has to be demolished. But not only are there dogs, there are plenty of cats, many of them immediately being impounded as the film opens. But, Bella is cared for by the mother cat, a characteristic of getting on well with felines which is going to be most significant for Bella in her adventure, her way home.
Other human characters include Lucas’s mother, Ashley Judd, a war veteran in throes of depression, doing voluntary work at the Veterans Affairs centre in Denver, Colorado, where they all live. Also working there is Olivia, Lucas’s friend and – spoiler alert, obviously to be his wife! Bella, now having a name, can’t stay at home one day and is brought secretly to the VA centre, discovered, and an enormous hit with the vets.
However, all is not easy. The owner of the buildings which are to be demolished gets a court order, confronts Lucas and his mother, wants all-out war, Lucas knowing his law and getting a restriction, so more tension. However, while Bella confides in us, describing all the different games that she has learned to play and her feelings about all the humans, she breaks out of the house chasing a squirrel which leads her being taken into the pound. But, all is not lost, Lucas and Olivia are able to get Bella to safety in New Mexico.
We are told that New Mexico is 400 miles from Denver so, the dog’s way home is going to be a long one and, in fact, takes 2 ½ years, including two winters.
Lots of adventures for Bella as she jumps over the fence in New Mexico, hungry but learning to seek out humans, helped by a group of scraggy dogs who do the rounds of the bins in one of the towns, find lakes for water, keeps advancing over the territory as she plays the game that Lucas taught her, “Go Home�.
The scenery is beautiful. There are threats from wolves. Hunters kill a giant cougar but Bella befriends the young kitten and they travel the wilds together. There are hunters, one caught in an avalanche and rescued with the help of Bella and his dog, Dutch, who are taken in by two young men who live in a hut in the mountains. Bella also encounters an old homeless veteran (attracting passers-by to put money in his tin), but he goes out into the cold and dies, Bella fortunately being rescued by two kids who find her.
So, plenty of episodes on the dog’s way home – and, as we leave the cinema, everyone happy, Lucas, his mother, Olivia now Lucas’s wife, and the welcoming vets. (And even the dog catcher, a nasty type, is removed from his catching job by his superior!)
1. A film for dog lovers?
2. Dogs, Bella, growing up, her mother? Dutch? The group of dogs scrounging food? The world of cats? The cougar and the kitten? The wolves?
3. Denver, Colorado, homes, the VA centre, activities? New Mexico, the scenery, the mountains, lakes, huts, towns?
4. The seasons, enter and the ice, summer and the beauty?
5. The voice-over by Bryce Dallas Howard? The tone, intonations, communicating the inner life of Bella?
6. Bella, born, her mother, the pups? The cats, the catcher? Lucas and Olivia, searching the house, protecting the animals? Taking Bella, giving her a name? The bonding with Mum, the games, explaining the name of the games? Taken to the Centre, the vets and their response?
7. The dialogue for the dog, psychological, explanation of how the dog ticks and acts?
8. The owner of the building, hostile, dog catchers, the threats, confronting Lucas and Olivia, the catcher and his assistants?
9. Lucas training Bella to play the game, Go Home?
10. Olivia, the contacts in New Mexico, getting Bella ready to go, the drive, Jose and his work in the garden, Bella and her escape?
11. The range of adventures, her explaining them, hungry, humans and food, the pack of dogs and their wandering the bins, her visit to the supermarket and stealing the chicken, looking for water? The pursuit by the walks? The hunters shooting the cougar, the surviving kitten, bonding with Bella?
12. The men, encountering Bella, fear of the cougar? The lone hunter, the avalanche? Bella and Dutch digging out the survivor, the young men, taking the dogs home, going to see the injured man, his not wanting the dogs, their taking Dutch? Bella deciding to leave?
13. The encounter with Axel, the veteran, the extra money, out into the snow, his death? Her being chained, unable to reach the water? The two boys, finding and freeing her?
14. The pursuit by the wolves, cornering Bella, being rescued by the kitten grown into the cougar?
15. Seeing the city, the hazards in the traffic, her being hit, finding home, new inhabitants? Going to the Centre? Welcomed by everyone, the dog catcher, wanting the dog – and his superior listening to the people, take him off his rounds in the street?
16. An opportunity for dog lovers to enjoy and indulge?
