A Dog’s Way Home (2019) Columbia/Drama-Adventure RT: 96 minutes Rated PG (thematic elements, some peril, language) Director: Charles Martin Smith Screenplay: W. Bruce Cameron and Cathryn Michon Music: Mychael Danna Cinematography: Peter Menzies Jr. Release date: January 11, 2019 (US) Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard (voice), Ashley Judd, Jonah Hauer-King, Alexandra Shipp, Wes Studi, John Cassini, Brian Markinson, Edward James Olmos, Lucia Walters, Barry Watson, Broadus Mattison, Chris Bauer, Farrah Aviva, Tammy Gillis, Benjamin Ratner, Patrick Gallagher. Box Office: $42M (US)/$80.7M (World)
Rating: ***
How many times have I pleaded for a return to old school movie making in my reviews? Too many to count I expect. Well, it looks like somebody heard me. Aside from some obvious CGI, A Dog’s Way Home is the kind of cute animal movie Disney used to make. Specifically, I’m thinking of 1963’s The Incredible Journey (remade in 1993 as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey) in which two dogs and a cat trek 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to reunite with their humans. In this day and age of superheroes and computer-animation, you just don’t see movies like this anymore. Not unless you count 2012’s Darling Companion which I don’t. An older couple looking for their lost dog (“FREEWAY!!”) doesn’t have the same effect as the traditional boy and his dog story arc. Although the human protagonist in A Dog’s Way Home is technically a young man, the movie doesn’t really focus on him as much as it does his canine pal.
As a lifelong dog lover, I am naturally inclined to think the puppy in A Dog’s Way Home is cute. I can’t imagine anybody thinking otherwise. Her name is Bella and she’s voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard of the Jurassic World movies. She was born under an abandoned house where she frolicked with her siblings and a litter of kittens until animal control officers show up. She watches helplessly as her mother and siblings are dragged away. Thankfully, “Mother Cat” takes care of her until the day she meets Lucas (King, TV’s Little Women), a kindly med school student who comes with his girlfriend Olivia (Shipp, the recent X-Men movies) to feed the cats. It’s love at first sight for Bella and Lucas. He takes her home in hopes that it will help his war vet mother Terri (Judd, Dolphin Tale 1 & 2) with her depression.
For a while, everybody is happy. Bella enjoys playing games like fetch and “don’t chew shoes”. She delights in simple pleasures like a “tiny piece of cheese”. One day, she goes to the VA with Lucas and Terri where she becomes an instant hit with the patients suffering from PTSD. The trouble begins when vindictive real estate developer Gunter (Markinson, Shooter) calls animal control after Lucas and Olivia have his permit rescinded because the cats are still living on the property he’s trying to develop. Apparently, pit bulls (which Bella has been labeled) are illegal in Denver. The dog catcher (Cassini, Continuum) threatens to impound Bella which he eventually does. A heartbroken Lucas has no choice but to send her away until he and his mother find another place to live (in a town without a pit bull ordinance). Bella can’t stand to be separated from her beloved human so she escapes from her temporary home in New Mexico to make her way back home to her family.
So begins a perilous 400-mile, two-and-a-half year journey through the Colorado wilderness during which Bella helps raise a bobcat orphaned by hunters. She has an encounter with a troubled homeless vet (Olmos, Stand and Deliver) and briefly stays with a gay couple after rescuing a skier buried under an avalanche.
At this point, I could reveal whether or not Bella reunites with Lucas and it wouldn’t make a difference since the trailer, which has been running for months, gives away the ending. Sadly, A Dog’s Way Home is a victim of TMI Syndrome. Given the movie’s old-fashioned nature, couldn’t they have approached the trailer the same way? I mean, how difficult is it to cut a trailer that doesn’t tell you the entire story? To its credit, it said nothing about the developer or dog catcher. Even so, given that we’re talking about a PG-rated movie aimed at kids and families, the boy and dog reunion is a foregone conclusion. The business with the dog catcher is another matter. Obviously, he’s going to show up and try to spoil the happy occasion. How will Lucas finally beat this officious creep and make him go away for good? That, my friends, I will keep to myself.
The wave of nostalgia I felt watching A Dog’s Way Home was occasionally derailed by the obvious CGI in scenes with the grown bobcat and a fight with a pack of wolves. I was telling my wife that back in the day they used to train animals to simulate fights and such. Along with some trick photography, it looked very real to us kids. The CGI is something of a disconnect, but it’s only a minor glitch in an otherwise perfectly functional family adventure.
I like that director Charles Martin Smith (Air Bud, Dolphin Tale 1 & 2) allows us to hear Bella’s thoughts. What dog owner hasn’t imagined what their furry friend is thinking or might say in any given situation? He doesn’t make Bella seem too human or overly intelligent. Bella is a fun-loving creature who lives for chicken, cheese and her “Lucas blanket”. She’s a happy, friendly and selfless animal who thinks of everything as a game yet understands when something isn’t right. She’s also tenacious. No matter what happens, she never gives up hope of finding Lucas. Some cynical types will invariably dismiss the idea of a dog traveling such a long distance as implausible. To them I say, lighten up. Besides, I have heard of such cases.
I also like that A Dog’s Way Home isn’t afraid to touch on serious issues like PTSD, same-sex marriage and dog racism even though it doesn’t explore any of them in depth. That’s actually a good thing. By not making a big deal of the gay couple’s relationship, it acknowledges that it’s as normal as a heterosexual one. The movie attempts to explain the unfair broad application of the term “pit bull”. It’s basically the same thing as calling a canine a “hound dog”. When told about the city’s anti-pit bull law, Olivia exclaims that it’s “basically racism for dogs”. People fear this breed because of all the stories they’ve heard about dog fighting rings and attacks on toddlers and small dogs. Looking at Bella (who I’m not even sure is actually a pit bull), I’m inclined to believe not all pit bulls are bad.
Casting aside weighty matters, A Dog’s Way Home is delightful, heart-warming family entertainment. There are scenes that might upset younger or more sensitive viewers. A scene on a freeway is pretty tense. Thankfully, they’re balanced out nicely by some humorous moments like when Bella innocently causes chaos in a supermarket. It’s a nice little movie that’s sure to please dog owners. You’ll definitely want to hug your dog(s) when you get home. Be sure to bring tissue as you’re likely to shed a tear or two.
