Summary
Having established the purpose of a dog, the journey continues with more puppy death, a string of crappy boyfriends, and a counterpoint to the 1989 animated featured All Dogs Go to Heaven.
The films based on Bruce W. Cameron’s series of dog related books are an oddity. The basic premise sees a dog repeatedly killed off and reincarnated for our entertainment. You know, for families. That it still somehow manages to be endearing is the real miracle.
Picking up a few years after A DOG’S JOURNEY, an older boss dog Bailey (voiced by Josh Gad) has been happily reunited with his first owner Ethan (Dennis Quaid) and his wife Hannah (Marg Helgenberger). Shortly after their emotionally abusive stepdaughter Gloria (Betty Gilpin) whisks away granddaughter CJ, the old doggy shuffles off the mortal coil. Before he dies, Ethan asks him to return to look after the older CJ (Kathryn Prescott). Which he does repeatedly.
There’s very little messing with the formula laid out in the first film, with the team of screenwriters – made up of Cameron, Cathryn Michon (Muffin Top: A Love Story), Maya Forbes (Infinitely Polar Bear), and Wally Wolodarsky (The Simpsons) – gleefully putting their audience through the emotional wringer. As we go through break-ups, love stories, cancer scares, and abusive partners, no opportunity is missed to sell the maximum amount of Kleenex.
With Quaid and Helgenberger confined to bookend roles, many of the other characters tend to be of the stock variety. After all, they are playing second fiddle to the pooch. GLOW‘s Gilpin is horrible to everyone in her orbit, at least until she suddenly isn’t, and the same goes for CJ’s string of often arseholic boyfriends. Counterbalancing this is the essential goodness of childhood friend Trent (Henry Lau), who has the most complete arc through a brief sickness.
There’s otherwise very little drama to the film, beyond the moment to moment micro-tragedies. With each rebirth, Bailey has very little trouble finding CJ, and people seem to be far more accepting of the who reincarnation idea this time around. By the time we make it to the super happy ending, you will believe that all dogs go to heaven.
A DOG’S JOURNEY arrives in Australia months after its US debut, with our theatrical release coinciding with the home release in North America. Yet perhaps this is the best way to enjoy this little pocket of furry fantasy, completely divorced from expectation, with your head out the side of the proverbial car window, enjoying the breeze of a summer’s day.
2019 | US | DIR: Gail Mancuso | WRITER: W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky | CAST: Marg Helgenberger, Betty Gilpin, Henry Lau, Kathryn Prescott, Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad, Jake Manley | DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 111 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 16 August 2019 (AUS)
