THINK LIKE A DOG

US, 2020, 91 minutes, Colour.

Gabriel Bateman, Josh Duhamel, Meagan Fox, Madison Horcher, Kunal Nayyer.

Directed by Gil Junger.

Fantasy film with an emp1.hasis on science for young students at school and an emphasis on friendships with China which targets the young audience, and the family audience.

Gabriel Bateman plays Oliver, a genial young student at school, keen on scientific experimentation and winning the science fair at school. He is also shyly infatuated with a young girl at school, Madison Horcher. He also has a bullying rival. There are scenes of him at school, rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and substituting the young girl’s name for Juliet… He is also fond of virtual reality games, teaming up with a friend from China.

He also has a pet dog, Henry, who has a very broad comic American accent. In his main experiment, setting up magnetic fields in order to read thoughts, he finds that his head brace worn on Henry enables them to converse. He shares this with his friend in China – but the energy goes through a circuit with a satellite raising international investigations.

Then there are Oliver’s parents, Josh Duhamel and an unconvincing Megan Fox, preparing for a separation, Oliver naturally highly upset.

A guest at the science fair, Kunal Nayyer, is a hero but proves to be something of a dastardly villain who is finally unmasked. The international investigators show greater appreciation for Oliver and his work and relocate him and his parents who are now reconciled, the bully also changing heart and Oliver united with his girlfriend.

Easy come, easy go.