2017 movies

Film Review: MARIA FERNANDA IN TIME (2017)

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Played at the January 2017 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival

MARIA FERNANDA IN TIME, 9min, Spain, Sci-Fi/Comedy
Directed by Xavier Pijuan

An overprotective mother produces an accident with terrible consequences in the space-time continuum in the scientific laboratory where his son works.

Review by Kierston Drier

A mixture of slapstick, bawdy, comic timing and recapitulation humor make MARIA FERNANDA IN TIME a hilariously enjoyable piece. Coming to us from Xavier Pijuan, this film explores the classic comic relationship between a loving but overbearing mother and her struggling-for-independence adult son. This classic comic duo is overlaid with the sci-fi twist of time travel, when our hero tells his mother not to touch the time-loop machine, and of course, she does.

Playing off the comedy found in the technology generation-gap lends itself well to this type of tale, as our hero realizes the only way to save himself, his colleagues and the world, is to get his mother to fix whatever she has done to mess up the machine. Thus our plot is complicated by both escalating tension and steaks, and our characters’ being doomed to repeat all the misfortunes of the last few moments.

What delightful about this piece, is that it’s plot is complication, but its’ humor is effectively simple. You love every character, despite their conflicts, you root for everyone regardless of their tragic flaws. You understand each character’s motives, and the humor is palpable, strong and engaging. A wonderful, short, brilliant piece of comedy that goes out with bang.

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Film Review: IM PERFEKT (2017)

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Played at the January 2017 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival

IM PERFEKT, 7min, Hungray, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Directed by Zsuzsanna Koszti

The short film aims to show a date in 2046. How the technology can shape our lives in an everyday situation. What if someone else controls your senses.

Review by Kierston Drier

What happens when we can no longer create distinction between where we end and technology begins? How does create us? Define us? Reshape our views of the world and of each other? IM PERFEKT coming to us via director Zsuzsananna Koszti explores the world in the-not-too-distant future, when humanity can seamlessly move between the human/techno gap, and what joys and concerns come from that.

Our two young heroes have met for coffee after meeting digitally. Each of them has a perfectly designed prosthetic hand. Sexual and romantic tension runs overtly between them and the casual seductive flirtations create an instantly engaging dynamic between our characters. Yet, when the female’s hand loses power, her date suggests they switch hands to charge. Once they do however, they can still experience the physical sensations of their own hand, even while it’s in the power of the other. It’s titillating, although somewhat invasive, when our male protagonists puts the fingers of his counterparts’ hand in his own mouth, and rubs her hand up his own leg. And the flirtatious mood turns somewhat embarrassed and awkward, when she tells him to stop. A date turned busy by jumping in too fast might be a theme that rings as current no matter how far in the future it is. A refreshingly modern take on the online dating hookup scene, with the comic twist that hooking up might just as easily mean plugging into power. Despite the clearly inappropriately liberal use our male hero takes with his female counterparts’ hand, we still feel empathic towards him, that his flirtations went one step too far and ruined an otherwise lovely coffee. Which is why you have to smile when the twist comes. Technology gets a bad rap in this day and age for dividing us all, but in IM PERFEKT we get to see it bring us closer together and unite us all, despite our differences. With the slight moral of remembering to ask permission before you take your dates’ hand.

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Film Review: A CURE FOR WELLNESS (USA 2017) ***1/2

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a_cure_for_wellness.jpgGore Verbinski
Writers: Justin Haythe (screenplay), Justin Haythe (story by) |
Stars: Jason Isaacs, Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth

Review by Gilbert Seah

The director of THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN films turns serious with a new psychological thriller written by Justin Haythe (THE LONE RANGER and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD). Like the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN films, A CURE ROR WELLNESS is over-long and can be shortened, but it is still a surprisingly entertaining suspensor, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

An ambitious young executive, Lockhart (Dane DeHaan, his most memorable role being in CHRONICLE) is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps. He soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem. When he begins to unravel its terrifying secrets (Do NOT drink the water!), his sanity is tested, as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests there longing for the cure. He is being watched and confined by Volmer (Jason Isaacs) who has darker designs for Lockhart. Lockhart, in the meantime falls in love with Hannah (Mia Goth) another patient at the facility. The question is whether Lockhart can escape or end up committed forever. The film might have been inspired by the classic THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI.

The film is realistically shot in English and part German as the mountainous parts of Switzerland is mainly German. The film was filmed largely at The Babelsberg Film Studio, located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. (METROPOLIS was shot there.) The film is a handsome production, with special effects and stunning shots by cinematography Bojan Bazelli.

Relative newcomer Dane DeHaan makes a believable naive young executive falling prey to a dark evil that challenges his sanity. Equally good, if not better, is young Mia Goth who plays a waif who is as innocently creepy as Sissy Spacek in CARRIE. There is a nice cameo by English actress Celia Imrie (THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL) who plays a small but important role as a Baroness.

The film is a tad too long at 146 minutes with many repetitive scenes. How many times has Lockhart been warned by Volmer for roaming around and getting lost in the facility? How many times must Lockhart see the toilet handle shaking. And how many times must Lockhart wake up from a nightmare in cold sweat for the purpose of director verbinski scaring the audience with a false alarm?

To be fair to Verbinski, he has staged some very creepy scenes, the one in the village pub being one of he creepiest I have seen in a while , In this scene, Hannah puts on a song from the jukebox, that turns out to be the creepiest, haunting music I have ever heard. She dances in her skimpy dress with the heads of onlookers turning around to watch this strange creature dancing, only to have her felt up by the local village thug who yields a curved blade when later rescued by Lockhart. Lockhart is at the telephone making a long distance call at the point Hannah is being molested, the timing adding to the suspense, in the film’s best scene.

The film has not had that much publicity so far, but it comes with my high recommendation as a taut suspenseful thriller with super eerie European atmosphere. Creepy and scary, the film will keep one absorbed in suspense from start to end. The film also delivers, subtly, the message that wellness comes from oneself, through self-discovery.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mcVodJmBlU

 

 

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Film Review: BEFORE THE STREETS (AVANT LES RUES) (Canada 2016)***1/2

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before_the_streets.jpgDirector: Chloé Leriche

Writer: Chloé Leriche

Stars: Rykko Bellemare, Kwena Bellemare-Boivin, Jacques Newashish

Review by Gilbert Seah

Things have not gone right, are still not going right and are going to get worse for a young adult Atikamekw man in the First Nations reserve of Manawan in Quebec. When the film opens, his girlfriend has left him, with him trying to win her back, unsuccessfully. Shawnouk (Rykko Bellemare) smokes up daily, is jobless and leaves a meaningless life with with his sister, mother and mother’s boyfriend, who happens to be an indigenous cop. Things get worse, when he accidentally kills his crime partner after a botched burglary.

When things have gone this badly, it can only get better. But this story of Shawnouk’s redemption shows that redemption does not come easy. It comes with humility, diligence and a self-discovery experience. All these issues make a heated subject for a super indigenous movie And writer/director Chloe Lerich does her subject justice. Lerich also produced, wrote and edited her film besides performing the directing duties.

BEFORE THE STREETS is an original and admirable first feature from director Chlore Leich. It is a moody piece that effectively capture the monotony of life with few opportunities on the reservation. The film also questions the rights deserved of these people – who have essentially got they land stolen from them. Now they have to suck up to the Whites. “Here come the shiflies”, says the indigenous cop, humorously about the Quebec police, at one point in the film.

There is a segment in the film where Shawnouk works in the canine department putting down stray dogs that are sick, or have bitten people. The metaphor is clear. Shawnouk finds it unbearable to work in such an environment.

One problem of the film has is Lerich’s fondness of closeups. As a result, only the closest object can be in focus and others in the frame appear blurred. The result is often many blurred images, especially at the very start of he film. There is also Atikamekw chanting at the start and end of the film – with the Atikamekw character screeching at a very irritating high pitch tone. It is a necessary piece, but hard on the eardrums.
Credit should be given to two excellent performances. The first is the actor Rykko Bellemare who plays the lead like an Atikamekw James Dean. He is able to capture both the audience’s sympathy and admiration for his downs and ups. The second is Jacques Newashish as the mother’s cop boyfriend, who is torn between the right and lawful thing to do.

For a debut feature Lerich’s film is an emotionally satisfying tale of redemption. The only question here is the credibility of the spiritual cleansing depicted. But it works through the personal change of Shwnouk, which is more important and effective than any jail term dished out by a Justice system. As in films like this, the ultimate question asked is: “Can there be any justice on stolen land?”

The film is shot mainly in he Cree language with a bit of French.

 

 

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Film Review: RINGS (2017)

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rings.jpgDirector: F. Javier Gutiérrez
Writers: David Loucka (screenplay), Jacob Estes (screenplay)
Stars: Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Alex Roe, Johnny Galecki

Review by Gilbert Seah

 Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez (BEFORE THE FALLS) and written by David Loucka, Jacob Aaron Estes and Akiva Goldsman, RINGS, the third film in the RINGS horror franchise (after THE RING and THE RING 2) attempts to blend in American psychological horror to the Japanese ‘watch the video – then you die’ scenario. It does not work.

When one goes to see an American remake of a cheap Japanese horror franchise, one had better keeps ones hopes low. The question is how low to keep ones hopes at to still NOT be disappointed. The film’s first 10 minutes set up the audience for these low expectations. A cute guy is seated, and sweating on an economy flight. When the girl next to him asks what is wrong, he explains that he has seen a video and is to die within 7 days and that he has 5 more minutes to survive. So, stupidly enough, he has to leave for the washroom when the seat belt sign is on. Black stuff flows on the floor, he is pulled on the floor by an unseen force and the plane crashes. All this makes absolutely no sense at all. And neither do much of the rest of the film. The odd thing is that the film gets really boring within the next 10 minutes.

The film’s main characters are two teens, who are very much in love. Holt (Alex Roe) leaves for University while Julia (Matilda Lutz) stays home pining for him. When Holt does the ‘watch the video and then die in 7 days’ gig, Julia drives up to save him. All these problems are caused by Holt’s Professor Gabriel (The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki). Somehow, the smart one seems to be Julia who has all the answers. Julia figures out that she has to free some girl in order to remove the curse which she is now caught with – which proves that she is not that smart after all. The villain of the piece turns out to be a blind fat priest called Burke (Vincent D’Onofrio – he played the recruit that shot himself in Stanley Kubrick’s FULL METAL JACKET) who might end up unforgettable in this role for all the wrong reasons.

The story turns into the horror story of a town that had a missing talented girl. The talented girl was kidnapped for almost a year, and put in chains in a basement by the priest, Burke. The attempt to Americanize RINGS with the video horror and this kidnapping story is a weak excuse of a plot that is just too flimsy to work. The tactic is not fooling anyone either.
The only thing going for the film are the scary images – most duplicated from the Japanese franchise.

For a horror flick, RINGS cost a massive $25 million to make. This will add to the estimated $500 million loss Paramount is is writing down from its film division this year. Watch the film, then sell your stock within 7 days.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFB4eZSVgBE

 

 

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THE SALESMAN (Iran/France 2016) ****

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the_salesman_poster.jpgDirector: Asghar Farhadi
Writer: Asghar Farhadi
Stars: Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini, Babak Karimi

Review by Gilbert Seah

Winner of the Best Script and Best Actor (Shahab Hosseini) prizes at 2016 Cannes,THE SALESMAN, the third film from the Iranian director of UNE SEPARATION and LE PASSE once again deals with domestic problems of a husband and wife in a suspense whodunit Hitchcockian setting.
Rana (Tararne Alidoosti) and her high-school teacher husband Emad (Hosseini) have moved quickly into their new apartment after an earthquake deemed their last place too dangerous to live. At the new place, just before going into the shower, Rana buzzes someone up thinking the person to be her husband. A stranger turns up in the bedroom. Rana ends up in hospital with bruises. The husband seeks revenge. In whodunit style, he traces keys and cellphone to the person responsible. The last 20 minutes has Emad confronting the perpetuator with unexpected results.

THE SALESMAN of the film title refers to the Pulitzer Wining 1949 Arthur Miller play, DEATH OF A SALESMAN. Emad is in a current production of the play with him playing the main character of the salesman, Willy with Rana playing the wife. There are of course parallels between the play and Emad’s real life. Both Willy and Emad seek the perfect life (as Willy in Miller’s play searches the American Dream), but fate hands out a different deck of cards. When Emad faces the man who committed the crime, a hidden crisis in his marriage relationship resurfaces – and he has to deal with it.

Unlike Farhadi’s other two films, THE SALESMAN moves at a slower pace and has more hidden agenda. Things are not what they seem. For one, the wife is a bundle of contradictions. She wants her husband to spend more time at home, but she wants personal solitude. When the husband finds the culprit, she wants the husband to let him go.

Farhadi also deals out slices of Iranian life in his film. The audience gets to see how the people live in Tehran where the story is set. The evacuation at the film’s start show how Iranians live. They take care of their disabled family members. The perpetuator’s family that show up at the end of the film depict the strong bond of Iranian family culture. One segment in Emad’s classroom reflects what the school system is like – and humorously. In one funny scene, a fat student quizzes Emad how possible it is in a literature text for a man to turn into a cow, only to be commented by a fellow pupil if he had recently looked into the mirror.

What is also immediately noticeable about Farhadi’s filming is his camera placement. At the film’s start, the stationary camera captures effectively the mayhem of the building evacuation. From the camera behind a window, a bulldozer can be seen. The climax of the film has the camera placed so that the characters move into the frame where the entire action then takes place.

At the end of the film,when the audience sits back to consider the consequences of the incidents that have unfolded on screen, one realizes that the impact is on the individual. The culprit is not sent to jail and the husband has not punished the wife’s attacker. The film leaves an open ending on how the revelation of events affect each character in the story. And his is what makes Farhadi’s film stand out.

THE SALESMAN has been nominated for the Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film. Director Farhadi has announced that he will not attend the ceremonies because of President’s Trump controversial travel ban.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VcfinMasfw

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Film Review: SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS (South Africa 2016) ***

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shepherds_and_butches.jpgDirected by Oliver Schmitz

Writers: Chris Marnewick (novel), Brian Cox (adaptation)
Stars: Andrea Riseborough, Steve Coogan, Garion Dowds

Review by Gilbert Seah

Director Olive Schmitz has made quite a name for himself with his first feature MAPANTSULA (1988) debuting at Cannes in Un Certain regard and again with his LIFE, ABOVE ALL (2010) being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. His latest is again a film which deals with a controversial topic, inspired by true events, the trial of a prison guard who shot seven black men dead.

The film is set during the height of apartheid in South Africa. The racial prejudice is obviously expected to be an effect on the story. A young white prison guard, Leon Labuschagne (Garion Dowds) embarks on a seemingly motiveless shooting spree that leaves seven black men dead., one night during a traffic incident. But this is obviously something deeper than road rage. A British-born lawyer, Johan Webber (Steve Coogan), assigned to his case sets out to prove his actions were a direct result of psychological trauma from his volatile work environment.

It is an odd choice to cast Steve Coogan in the role of a concerned lawyer. His best roles have been in comedy as in THE TRIP and THE TRIP TO ITALY as well as in ALAN PARTRIDGE. Even in his serious roles like PHILOMENA, he injects a sarcastic, biting humour that makes him an actor a joy to watch. In this film, Coogan is total serious. He is seen smoking a cigarette during the planning of his case, but never gain in any other seen. Actor Garion Dowds was probably chosen for his role as the accused because of his innocent and small stature, showing his character a vulnerable and easily influenced one.

One expects to be disturbed when watching a film like SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS that deals with the death penalty. There is plenty in the film to shock the audience. These are mainly in the flashbacks and recalling of events by guard Leon Labuschagne. The description of a hanging with the rope not of correct length (the dying man suffering the pain of strangulation with a broken neck in consciousness for a full 15 minutes) and the actual enactment during a flashback are clearly not for the faint-hearted. The scenes showing the sights of the faeces and urine surrounding the dead hung bodies are also plain nasty. Director Schmitz also creates the uneasiness of the period of apartheid throughout the film.

Leon Labuschagne was a prefect at school and attended church regularly. He was a father with a wife and daughter but now he stands trial for the murder of 7 people. The most intriguing question the film is to answer is what brought the change to this man, Leon. Director Schmitz brings his film to a satisfying conclusion with the verdict of the court case.
The film’s most absorbing parts still lie during the courtroom drama. Andrea Riseborough is marvellous as the prosecutor Kathleen Murray questioning Leon to breakdown.

The film was shot entirely in Cape Town, South Africa in English and Afrikaans. Why the film is called SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS is clear during a crucial scene at the end of the film.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGdGrwd27Yk
 

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Film Review: TIFF Cinematheque Presents – The Films of Anna Magnani

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TIFF Cinematheque Presents – The Films of Anna Magnani

This series of Anna Magnani films, with quite a few not screened for a long time, runs from Jan 27th  right up to March 11th.  The Series is entitled:

Volcano: The Films of Anna Magnani

A deluxe tribute to “the She-Wolf of Italian cinema

For the complete list of Magnani films, the dates, venue and ticket pricing,please click on the link below:

http://www.tiff.net/?#volcano-the-films-of-anna-magnani

Capsule Reviews of selected films follows:

(The Full Review for THE PASSIONATE THIEF is available in a separate post on this site).

CAPSULE REVIEWS:

BELLISSIMA (Italy 1951) ****

Directed by Luchino Visconti

BELLISSIMA is about a mother doing everything trying to get her daughter into show business.  Though set decades ago, the film is till relevant seeing how people these days do the same to audition for the realty shows.  The film works as a comedy that is even more hilarious and relevant thanks to the performance of Anna Magnani.  She plays a nurse making a living giving injections while giving her daughter the best audition dress, ballet lessons and acting lessons.  If she is not scramming away, she is praying or sucking unto her macho typcll

MAMMA ROMA (Italy 1962) ****

Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini

An ex-prostitute, Mamma Roma (Anna Magnani in her best role), tries to start a new life selling vegetables with her 16-year-old son Ettore (Ettore Garofolo). When he later finds out that she was a prostitute, he succumbs to the dark side ending with the petty theft of a radio in a hospital and goes to prison.  This is a tragic tale of mother and son, mother wanting too much for her son while he just wanting to be left to his own devices. Pasolini’s film contains lots of homoerotic images like Ettore’s friend wrestling him to the ground and Ettore being strapped down to his underwear in the hospital.  Pasolini also captures the period, classes atmosphere and hopeless of is tale with clarity and emotion.

Screening Jan 28h

THE PASSIONATE THIEF (RISATE DI GIOIA) (Italy 1960) ****
Directed by Mario Monicelli

  

THE PASSIONATE THIEF (RISATE DI GIOIA) marks the collaboration between dramatic actress Anna Magnani and famed comedian Toto.  It is a perfect match as director Monicelli’s film is a perfect blend between drama and comedy.  The film follows two friends, Umberto and Gioia (Toto and Magnani) who live by their wits working as comedians and cabaret at Cinecittà (the famous cinema production studios centre in Rome), before being invited to friends’ parties or masked balls during New Year’s Eve in Rome.  The two, however, even though they make people laugh all the time in public, live an inner conflict, namely that the two have always to be aware to give a smile to someone, but they can never be rich and happy because they are street artists and with a precarious wage.  The meeting with another thief, the well-dressed Lello (Ben Gazzara who appears to speak perfect Italian) throws their relationship into peril.  The film is more drama than comedy.  The audience can clearly sympathize with both the characters of Umberto and Gioia as they both grab at straws to escape the drowning from poverty.  Gioia is hoping for love in the much younger Lello while Umberto finally goes clean in order to save Gioia from Lello.  THE PASSIONATE THEIF looks like a simple film on the surface, but is deep in mood, atmosphere, feeling and life under deeper scrutiny.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFwFYySSWS8

Screening Jan 29th

ROME OPEN CITY (Italy 1946) ***** Top 10

Directed by Roberto Rossellini

 

Rossellini’s ROME – OPEN CITY follows Italian resistance fighters and workers as they struggle through hardship and tyranny to etch out a barely decent daily living with their families while just putting enough food on the table. If not fighting the enemy, the Italians are humorously screaming among themselves. The film centres on expecting Pina (Anna Magnani), a widow with son, Marcello about to be married again. Rossellini captures the essence of war in the details and warmth of the characters. A fly can be seen on the priest’s cloak while dust is plentiful after the bombings. The priest is seen playing football with the school children, then passing messages to the underground and also giving confession to those requiring forgiveness. A very moving film made even more riveting with the famous segment of the pregnant Anna Magnani shot by the Germans as she runs from the three-tonner. This is a must-see, one of the best war films made during war time.

Screening Jan 27th

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Film Review: PATERSON (USA 2016) Top 10 *****

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paterson.jpgDirector: Jim Jarmusch
Writer: Jim Jarmusch
Stars: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Nellie

Review by Gilbert Seah

PATERSON is the brilliant but quiet new film from Jim Jarmusch that focuses on a working-class poet (Adam Driver) in a small New Jersey town who practices his craft amidst the quiet magic of everyday life.

Those familiar with Jarmusch will be glad to notice the director’s traits from his early films present in PATERSON The wide camera panning of STRANGER THAN PARADISE and the dead pan humour of DOWN BY LAW are a few examples. But PATERSON is clearly his best film. Jarmusch captures the simplicity of an American small town and both the complexity and beauty of life amidst the daily routine of bus driver wannabe poet called Paterson in the town ale called Paterson.

Jarmusch shows that magic is where one finds it. The pleasures from the film derive from the audience’s observations of the film. For one, the film is a film about Paterson’s routine. It is a week in the life of Paterson beginning on a Monday and ending on the morning of the Monday of the following week. Paterson carries on his daily routine that includes getting up in the morning at the same time at 6:10 (though he wakes up late one of the days). He kisses his wife, eats the same breakfast of fruit loops and milk and goes to work at the bus garage where he drives the the bus of the same route everyday. When he gets home, he walks his dog, Marvin, and stops for a beer at the neighbourhood bar, chatting with the locals.

Amidst the driving and walking, he writes poems – beautiful and simple ones that the audience can relate to. All these might sound mundane, but Jarmsuch has created a really beautiful film, aided by his muse, actor Adam Driver, whose every facial expression registers his mood and emotion. The Toronto Film Critics Association awarded Driver the Best Actor Prize this year.

PATERSON is also a love story. The two lead a simple life of the same daily routines, but it is clear that they care for each other – deeply. It is tolerance and sensitivity that are the ingredients that make their love so strong. In one of his poems. Paterson says, I see other girls but if his wife were to leave him, he would tear his heart out.

It is also noticeable that Paterson is the happiest character in the film. The bartender Doc envies Paterson’s relationship with his wife. Everett, a local is heartbroken from unrequited love while his fellow bus driver, Donny is always full of personal and family problems. Everything seems to turn out right for Paterson, even his wife’s cupcake sale at the farmer’s market.

A key character in the story is surprisingly Paterson’s dog, Marvin. While Paterson straightens the post of his letter box very day after work, it is Marvin that topples it slanting every day when Paterson is at work. Marvin also chews up Paterson’s book of poems one day, an act that brings the film to its climax.
PATERSON turns out to be the perfect poetic film – visually as well as in the character’s writings. Effective, moving and thoroughly captivating, PATERSON is a a genuine feel-good movie without artificial sweeteners!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8pGJBgiiDU

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Film Review: A DOG’S PURPOSE (USA 2017) ***

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a_dogs_purpose.jpgDirector: Lasse Hallström
Writers: W. Bruce Cameron (screenplay), Cathryn Michon (screenplay)
Stars: Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton

Review by Gilbert Seah

A DOG’S PURPOSE begins with the birth of a puppy. The question: “What is the purpose of life?” is asked in the voiceover. But the answer comes front he canine point of view. The puppy lives its life and dies. (The first life is really short.) It is reincarnated several times starting as a puppy leading different lives as different breeds with different owners. But the main important one is the one as Bailey (all the dogs voiced by Josh Gad) who has a loving relationship with Ethan (K.J. Apa). But the dog remembers all its past lives.

With so many reincarnations come many stories. Director Hallstrom moves his film fast, so that there is hardly a dull moment. There are 4 separate stories with 4 different owners and reincarnations. The stories are all told from the dog’s point of view. The script tries to be funny, but the result is only polite laughter judging from the promo screening audience.

The ultimate question arises from the film’s title is what a dog’s purpose is. The obvious answer is to be man best friend. But the answer (not to be released in this review) provided by the film is even more specific.

The cast has only one well known name, that of star Dennis Quaid who appears towards the end of the film, though he has an important role. The best performances are from the canine actors, credit going to the trainers of course. It is always a wonder to see how these dog players perform so well – for example running where they are supposed to go, under fences into water, jumping through loops and saving helpless human beings and licking them constantly.

The film, typical from Swede director Hallstrom (MY LIFE AS A DOG, CHOCOLAT, WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE? THE CIDER HOUSE RULES) is undeniably mawkish, milking sentiment whenever possible. It is advisable to bring plenty of Kleenex. My guest who loves dogs who I brought to the promo screening, bawled his eye out.

A few words obviously need be said about the film’s controversy. On January 18, 2017, a video surfaced on TMZ showing footage taken from the set of the film, which shows a German Shepherd named Hercules being dragged and dipped into rushing water while visibly resisting. Worst, the following clip shows the dog being submerged in the water at the other end of the tank. As a result, many is expected to boycott the film. So far, Universal Pictures has cancelled the film’s scheduled January 19 Los Angeles premiere and the representative from the Humane Association watching for the cruelty and harm to animals has been suspended. One will see during the weekend at the box-office (expected gross is $20 million) if the adage ‘all publicity is good publicity’ is still valid.

A DOG’S PURPOSE is not the best of Hallstrom’s films, but he manages a successful job. The film is an entertaining family film that caters to all dog lovers. It is pitiful that bad press arose from the TMZ videos, but the filmmakers, I am sure had the best intentions in mind for man’s best friend.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jLOOCADTGs

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