A Dog's Purpose (2017)/Dog's Journey (2019)/Dog's Way Home (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Oh my word.

The trailer just hit.

I think this just might be the best movie of all time!

The trailer gives away one of the main plot ideas that the book doesn't (joy of discovery moment)...but--damn--it looks like this is going to be awesome!

 

[Mike Frezon]

 

[Jason Charlton]

Dammit. I'm not supposed to get teary-eyed at work....

 

[Tino]

Mike

I gave this book to my wife to read based on all the great reviews. She does love it but she said it has emotionally upset her deeply. She texted me this the other day. Ali is our dog.

"Give Ali a hug for me- not your fault, but that book upset me"

Don't know why she's so upset since I haven't read it yet. But it must be a powerful book.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Dammit. I'm not supposed to get teary-eyed at work....

Mike

I gave this book to my wife to read based on all the great reviews. She does love it but she said it has emotionally upset her deeply. She texted me this the other day. Ali is our dog.

"Give Ali a hug for me- not your fault, but that book upset me"

Don't know why she's so upset since I haven't read it yet. But it must be a powerful book.

I'm right there with you guys.

And it IS a powerful book. A lot of fun, though, too!

Tino: The reason the book touched your wife's emotions so much is because of that strong bond between her and your dog. It might be stronger than you think (or that she even realizes). She "upset" but if I might be so bold...I'd bet she's upset in a good way. It's good to have your emotions come to the surface sometimes so that we understand which things in life are important to us.

And it's an indicator of why the death of a pet can impact us as much as the death of a human that is close to us. People often don't want to admit that...but it can be true.

I, frankly, couldn't believe that I, too, shed a tear when I watched that trailer. I totally wasn't expecting that to happen. Not in a trailer. But it did. I take that as a very good sign for the quality of the film. <Fingers crossed>

 

[Tino]

Mike

My wife's love for for animals and dogs taught me to love dogs (and all animals btw). I was never a pet person.

Shortly After we got married in 2003 we bought a miniature schnauzer and named him Stewart. I was amazed that I could love a dog that much. He was the joy of our lives. He went blind pretty much overnight in 2010 but adapted amazingly. In early 2015 he developed congestive heart failure and we had to put him down a few months later. It was the one of the darkest days of our lives. It was the same for me as losing my brother to cancer.

We survived and a short time later we rescued another miniature schnauzer named Alistair. He's a wonderful sweet dog. But my heart will always have a special spot reserved for my Stewie. I hope I see him again some day.

I have a profound love now for all of Gods creatures, dogs in particular. I tear up easily when I see stories of abuse and neglect.

So I am a Dog lover and proud of it. I will read this book and see the film.

Thanks Mike[emoji106]

 

[George_W_K]

Man, I don't want to cry in the theater, but this may get me.

I bought the book when this thread started, but haven't read more than a few pages. I need to make time as I liked what I read so far.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Voiceover narration is a tricky tightrope to walk; it's difficult to do well, and it can torpedo a film if it's done poorly. That's especially true when the voiceover is an animal, as countless CG crapfests can attest. Josh Gad, who I don't always enjoy in live action, seems to strike exactly the right tone here.

And Britt Robertson is one of my favorite young actresses. She has that increasingly rare ability to make the audience feel whatever her character is feeling. She first came to my attention Steve Carell's histrionic middle daughter in Dan in Real Life; the movie never felt real to me, but her "You are a murderer of love!" tantrum was a memorable highlight. Then she did incredible work at the center of "Life Unexpected", a very good family drama in its first season and a soapy mess in its second season, as a deeply wounded lifelong victim of the foster care system who is reunited with her biological parents at the tail end of her childhood years. She was better than her material as the most troubled of Vince Vaughn's many biological children in the generally underwhelming Delivery Man. Probably her greatest achievement was pulling off an unflinchingly earnest performance as Casey Newton, the protagonist of Brad Bird's Tomorrowland. Much like Chris Evans as Captain America, the slightest whiff of irony or insincerity would have sunk the role. Her participation in a project instantly spikes my interest.

Dennis Quaid is really starting to get weathered by the ravages of time, and I think it opens up new possibilities for him as a performer. In his prime, he was almost too good looking. He had that news anchor vibe that made it hard to project vulnerability.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Adam: I think Dennis Quaid is perfect casting for this film. I'm looking forward to watching his performance. And my wife (who has no idea who Josh Gad is) mentioned how much she liked the voiceover in the trailer. You cannot imagine how happy I am that they did not CGI moving mouths on the dogs!!

Tino: That gets a nomination for post of the year. I totally understand the sentiment contained therein. My current Golden Retriever Ike is the canine love of my life. But his predecessor, Brooks, will always be the gold standard of what a dog should be in a relationship. And I only had Brooks for a year before he died of cancer. That's part of the heartbreak of adopting senior dogs. But that fella also was given a great year with us. We'll never know what his other eleven years were like. But he was toiling in a kennel for more than a year before we got him.

Here's my buddy Brooks:

 

[Mike Frezon]

I have a profound love now for all of Gods creatures, dogs in particular. I tear up easily when I see stories of abuse and neglect.

And if you haven't ordered my wife's book (link in my signature)...

<shameless, shameless plug alert>

But it is chock full of stories about all sorts of different types of animals and their bonds with humans:

 

[Tino]

My Stewie

 

[Tino]

Our Alistair

 

[Mike Frezon]

Two great-looking dogs!

Start reading A Dog's Purpose!!

 

[Tino]

Just started reading it today Mike. How's the sequel? I'm gonna order it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Get it!

The trailer gives me the impression that the movie covers both books.

When I was done reading A Dog's Purpose, I was left wanting more. And I didn't realize there WAS a sequel until I was walking through a Barnes and Noble and saw the sequel sitting on a table in the main aisle! Score!

The sequel does a GREAT job closing out the story.

 

[Tino]

On its way

 

[David_B_K]

The trailer seems to be the book(s) in miniature. I know my wife would have a hard time getting through a movie like this. I probably will too. When our Corgi Molly died in July of 2009 at the age of 5 from Lymphoma, it hit us pretty hard. For Christmas that year, I bought my wife a book called Puppy Kisses Are Good For the Soul. It was a book about the author's life with his Corgi. It had been several months since Molly's passing, and we had a new Corgi by then (Riley), so I thought it would be a nice story for her. My wife wept profusely at the end, but said it was a good book. I then read it, and I daresay, I did too. We knew the dog was going to die in the end, but I guess it made us relive Molly's last days again.

I think part of what makes stories about dogs so dad is that it not only reminds us of dogs we have lost; it also reminds us that all our dogs never live as long as we want them to. Even though we lost Molly at a young age, I look at Riley who is now 7 and wonder how long we'll have him. We all know when we get a dog that we will get totally wrapped up with them and that we'll have to face death with them sooner than we want. It's like the Grim Reaper is lurking in the background the whole time.

One thing that might get my wife to see the movie is that one of the lives the dog lives is that of a Corgi. Here is a pic I took of Riley last night as he lay by my chair alongside his favorite toy:

 

[Tino]

Hey Mike.

Look what my wife ordered and was delivered today!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Wow! Thanks, Tino! That's the coolest thing!

Hey, would it be possible for you to take a picture of Alistair with the book?!? If you can, that would be great. If it doesn't work out, I understand. But my wife likes to post such pictures on her own website. We can make Alistair famous! (Well, I guess he's already "famous" since he's got his mug included in this thread! )

There's more than one anecdote involving me in her books/stories. I usually am "shooting her looks" or something to that effect! I just riffed through my copy of the book. There's more about me than I remember! And--LOL--one in which I "shot her a look!"

Honestly! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Tino]

Alistair says thanks Mike.