Okay. Fab cast - Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston and a Golden Lab.
Yeah, sounds like a no-fail recipe for cuteness, cuddles and Kleenex.
Naaaah. A Dog Movie for, (and I gather - by) people who don't really like dogs.
Great storyline: Young couple adopt renegade, untrainable but cute puppy. Marry, have 3 kids, encounter post-partum depression etc. Man stays friends with faithful (yet naughty) dog. Dog remains faithful (yet naughty). Dog gets twisted bowel. Dog dies.
Family feel sad and yet … slightly guilty. Soppy graveside eulogies as dog is buried.
Roll the credits. Dab your eyes and exit quietly.
As a dog owner (of an untrainable yet cute 10 y/o Black Lab) the movie was just a showcase for a couple of Hollywood hacks, with very little reference to the title dog as a personality. The direction focuses on the relationship between the couple, with the dog as a background feature – periodically doing something demonic, which Owen tolerates, and Jennifer doesn’t.
The relationship between the dog and Wilson’s character is one-dimensional at best: exasperated, yet grudgingly amused tolerance.
Sight gags do not justice to the complexity of a dog’s interaction with a human.
Could have done better - appropriately, a pile of poo is the result.
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