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The recording artist Steve Albini once described a particularly onerous music-industry assignment as “a job I wouldn’t wish on a dog I didn’t like.” Right now, I feel like that dog, because I have to review “A Dog’s Purpose.” The assignment didn’t look so bad until about a week ago, when animal rights activists—Or was it TMZ? Or some combination thereof? Who can rightly say?— made public a video of one of the movie’s several dogs balking at performing a stunt, and being mocked for its ostensible cowardice before being forced to act. Instantly, the prospect of two hours of “lookatdapuppy” became the prospect of two hours of “lookatdapuppythatmighthavebeenabused” and seriously, who wants to sit through, let alone offer some kind of objective professional assessment, of that?

On the other hand, that girl slapping the cat around in “Satantango” was really slapping a cat around, and somehow I don’t think the horse that was standing on the platform of the wooden staircase that collapsed in “Andrei Rublev” got up and trotted away. Don’t even get me started on that pig in Bertolucci’s “1900,” although I presume he was enjoyed by those who eventually ate him in the form of tasty sausage. But “A Dog’s Purpose,” directed by Lasse Hallström , who also directed “My Life as a Dog” (not really a dog movie) and “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” (absolutely a dog movie), is not supposed to be a realistic depiction of the misfortune our differently-individuated fellow creatures fall into in this world. No, it is meant to be an inspirational tale based on the notion that dogs exist to be of service to humans. And that one dog, the one whose voiceover is enthusiastically articulated by Josh Gad , gets reincarnated a sufficient number of times to fulfill the purpose of redeeming the existence of his former master.

This is one weird movie. Co-produced by Amblin, Steven Spielberg ’s production shingle, it begins in a Michigan early 1960’s that’s been production-design burnished to a nostalgic fare-thee-well. Nevertheless, this idyllic depiction of America when it was Great Before features rogue sanitation workers who come upon a Red Retriever puppy and reckon they can make a few bucks selling it … only they leave it to dehydrate in their vehicle as they go to lunch. Along comes young Ethan and his feisty mom ( Juliet Rylance ) to rescue the pup, give him water, and adopt him, despite the doubts of good-natured but hard-drinking traveling salesman dad. Things move amiably enough, but the slapstick involving rambunctious Bailey (for so is the pup named) often escalates to a level that would get another dog sent to two weeks at a training camp or something. When the humor isn’t overstated, it’s kinda inappropriate. Teenage Ethan eventually meets a girl, Hannah ( Britt Robertson ), and the cutie is charmed by Bailey, who’s curious about her and her smell. She grabs the dog by his shiny, lustrous scuff and scratches under his neck. In voiceover, Bailey says “My butt itches.” Great. Just what the world needs, “Old Yeller” rewritten by “ The Hangover ” team. (Not actually true; no “Hangover” writers were employed in the making of this film.)

Then things get real dark real fast. Dad’s hard drinking becomes full-blown shambling and striking-out alcoholism. (This is all the more disturbing since, if you’ve been following the cause and effect action closely, it’s strongly implied that the guy lost his job partially on account of the dog’s bad behavior.) Ethan’s envious, resentful football teammate pulls a prank that causes appalling damage. All of Ethan’s All-American hopes and dreams and optimism are snatched from him, and off he goes to a lonely life at agricultural school.

Yikes. Then Bailey dies, and the movie’s next hour is about the different forms the dog takes before finding his ultimate purpose. There’s the German Shepherd police dog (the one in the TMZ video) whose human master is lonesome. This one has the misfortune of having to chase a kidnapper (who’s also an acrobat, given his police-evading climbing abilities) who’s brought his victim to a reservoir, and proves a hero in the noblest and kind of depressing way possible. (And yeah, that water does look damn scary, for German Shepherd or human or whoever.) There’s the ice-cream loving Corgi (I think) who helps find romance for his over-studious mistress (Kirby Howell Baptiste). Then there’s the dog adopted by a rural punk rock chick—they’re the worst—whose neglect is so dire it can barely be voiceovered. But wait! This dog finds freedom, and eventually finds Ethan, who has grown up to look just like Dennis Quaid . Oddly enough, though, he’s not had a girlfriend since Hannah. And so Bailey finds his ultimate purpose.

No, really.

This movie has its moments—no movie with such an adorable array of pooches could not, plus Mr. Quaid, who in addition to being movie-star handsome is also a pretty good actor, sells his fifteen or so onscreen minutes. But the tonal weirdness and the philosophical fallacies and the general level of treacle did not sit very well with me. Then again, I have to admit I’m really more of a cat person.

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

A Dog's Purpose (2017)

Rated PG for thematic elements and some peril.

120 minutes

Britt Robertson as Hannah

Dennis Quaid as Ethan

Juliet Rylance as Elizabeth

Josh Gad as Dog (voice)

Logan Miller as Todd

Pooch Hall as Al

Luke Kirby as Jim

• Lasse Hallström

Writer (based on the novel by)

• W. Bruce Cameron
• Cathryn Michon
• Audrey Wells
• Maya Forbes
• Wally Wolodarsky

Cinematographer

• Terry Stacey
• Robert Leighton
• Rachel Portman

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A dog's purpose, common sense media reviewers.

Tearjerker is sweet, poignant, and occasionally violent.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Strong messages about the life-changing connection

Ethan is a wonderful dog owner: kind, helpful, dis

Violence against both dogs and people, some of whi

From the dog's perspective, Ethan and his girl

Infrequent language includes a few uses of "s

Quite a bit of drinking, particularly by Ethan'

Parents need to know that A Dog's Purpose is an emotional drama based on W. Bruce Cameron's 2010 novel about a dog (voiced by Josh Gad) that's reincarnated several times from the 1950s through the 2000s (the dog keeps its memories/personality, despite being different breeds and genders). There are…

Positive Messages

Strong messages about the life-changing connection and friendship between dogs and their human owners. Also promotes the idea that people aren't meant to go through life alone and that they're happier and more fulfilled with both human partners and animal companions. Clear theme of empathy.

Positive Role Models

Ethan is a wonderful dog owner: kind, helpful, disciplined, and loving. He takes good care of Bailey and is also a doting son. Hannah is a supportive, encouraging girlfriend and pet lover. Carlos is a dedicated cop and partner to his K-9 companion. The dog believes his/her purpose is to defend, protect, and love his/her human companions. Maya is sweet and smart and showers her dog with affection and kindness.

Violence & Scariness

Violence against both dogs and people, some of which could be sad/upsetting. Dogs die from early euthanasia, from being shot and nearly drowned, and of old age. An abusive father pushes his wife and his son, who pushes him back. A scary scene depicts a man who has kidnapped a young girl and is about to hurt her when the police show up. A neglectful owner chains the dog outside and then leaves it alone to find its own way as a stray. A house fire causes a devastating injury.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

From the dog's perspective, Ethan and his girlfriend are "licking each other's faces." The dog also mentions that his "butt itches" when Hannah pets him. In another dog life, he falls in love with a female dog.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Infrequent language includes a few uses of "s--t," "dumb," "stupid."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Quite a bit of drinking, particularly by Ethan's father, who starts out drinking socially after work but continues to drink excessively as Ethan grows into adolescence, to the point that he's moody and eventually violent. A toast at a wedding reception.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that A Dog's Purpose is an emotional drama based on W. Bruce Cameron's 2010 novel about a dog (voiced by Josh Gad ) that's reincarnated several times from the 1950s through the 2000s (the dog keeps its memories/personality, despite being different breeds and genders). There are some violent/upsetting scenes: An alcoholic, abusive father pushes his wife and son; a man kidnaps a girl, threatens her, throws her in the water, and shoots at a police officer and his dog; a neglectful dog owner keeps his dog chained and then purposely lets him go astray; and a fire causes a catastrophic injury for a young man. Strong language is infrequent (but includes "s--t"), and couples don't do much more than kiss. Look for clear messages about empathy and the importance of companionship, both human and animal. Before the movie's release, a controversy emerged about whether the animal performers were mistreated on the set; an investigation proved that the video was edited in a misleading manner. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (40)
• Kids say (78)

Based on 40 parent reviews

What's the Story?

A DOG'S PURPOSE is based on W. Bruce Cameron's comedic novel about a dog's journey through several lives, with all different sorts of human companions. Voiced by Josh Gad , the dog is first a puppy that's picked up and euthanized by animal control. His first meaningful life is as Bailey, a golden retriever that ends up adopted by only child Ethan (Bryce Gheisar) and his mother ( Juliet Rylance ). Bailey and Ethan enjoy a close relationship that continues as Ethan grows into adolescence (K.J. Apa) and eventually becomes a star football player in the 1960s. Bailey even plays a part in helping Ethan find his first serious girlfriend, Hannah ( Britt Robertson ). But after family and personal tragedy strike, Bailey eventually dies of old age. He's then reincarnated as Ellie, a K-9 German shepherd partnered with cop Carlos ( John Ortiz ) in the 1970s. The dog fulfills its life cycle again and again until the 2000s, when circumstances bring him full circle.

Is It Any Good?

Director Lasse Hallstrom specializes in emotional, feel-good fare that can make audiences cry, and this tearjerking drama is no exception. But because of a behind-the-scenes animal-abuse controversy, word of mouth leading up to the release of A Dog's Purpose wasn't about Gad's touching voice performance or the movie's alternately adorable and heartbreaking storylines. Instead, all the buzz was about a viral video that allegedly depicted on-set abuse toward the movie's animal actors -- a video that was later proven to have been purposely edited in a misleading way (i.e. faked).

All of that aside, the story exalts the relationship between dogs and their humans. Gad's voice is gentle and clear as all the various incarnations. Although the dog lives several lifetimes, it's Bailey that resonates the most (Apa is perfectly cast as a high-school football star whose dog is his best friend). There are occasional heavy themes, but there's laughter, too, and one "life" is quick and happy -- when the dog is a little pooch that belongs to pizza-loving, fast-talking graduate student Maya (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). Maya is lonely, and, thanks to her cute little dog falling for a much larger dog in the park, she finds love with her classmate. But ultimately it's the Bailey-Ethan bond that's most meaningful for this particular dog, and the way they find their way back to each other again is likely to leave you sniffling.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violent/upsetting scenes in A Dog's Purpose. Do you think they're necessary to the story? Can a movie have violent parts and still be family friendly?

Did the controversy about the movie impact your feelings about it? How do you feel now that it's been proven that the video was edited in a misleading way? What does this teach us about casting a critical eye on what we see and hear ?

What do the human characters learn from the dog? How does the movie's story promote empathy ? Why is that an important character strength ?

How does the movie address grief, especially in relation to losing a pet? Have you ever had to deal with that? What made you feel better?

How does the movie portray drinking ? Are there realistic consequences? Why is that important?

Movie Details

• In theaters : January 27, 2017
• On DVD or streaming : May 2, 2017
• Cast : Dennis Quaid , Josh Gad , Britt Robertson , Peggy Lipton
• Director : Lasse Hallstrom
• Inclusion Information : Middle Eastern/North African actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Cats, Dogs, and Mice
• Character Strengths : Empathy
• Run time : 120 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : thematic elements and some peril
• Last updated : February 21, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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A Dog's Purpose Reviews

Lasse Hallström once again provides theater-goers with some food for thought in A Dog's Purpose. Of course, the food tastes better out of the trash and bacon from under the table is just the best.

Full Review | Aug 26, 2021

It's a safe family film that's a heart tugger for dog lovers.

Full Review | Sep 4, 2019

The problem with that premise is you have to watch a dog die 5 times, which is like Marley and Me times 5.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Mar 12, 2019

This film fails to earn a single emotional reaction of its own merit. Instead it preys on sadness offering little in return but misery and saccharine sentimentality.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 4, 2019

Manipulative dog-friendly drama.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Feb 24, 2019

Indeed, we will tear up when Bailey dies (again and again), we will squeal at his return as a puppy, we will also scowl and hate humans when they deserve it. But we will not be tricked into liking a film simply because of these additions.

Full Review | Feb 19, 2019

A Dog's Purpose is a movie with a good heart telling a well-intentioned story, but the constant tugging of heartstrings ultimately results in a fraying that significantly lessens the overall impact of the film.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Feb 13, 2019

A great big cream puff of a movie: not terribly ambitious, but undeniably sweet. It's a little bit scary, a little bit sad, a little bit sappy and a whole lot adorable.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 9, 2019

Contrived and emotionally manipulative, with plotlines you'll guess within the first few minutes; but sometimes you just want to enjoy a cathartic emotional wallow while watching puppies with adorable floppy ears bouncing joyously through a cornfield.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 20, 2018

The narrative is pretty interesting and it's nice to see a dog tell us his story. There are a few emotional moments that will make you hide your tear-stained face...

Full Review | Nov 7, 2018

Far from fun for all ages. It's a film where the tone is all over the place, with some elements that really don't mesh together at all.

Full Review | Nov 3, 2018

It often feels that you could see Hallström talking to a young child repeatedly saying, "Do you like that dog? Do you think it's cute? Well it's going to die!"

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 1, 2018

An overall harmless and heartwarming film that will tug at the heartstrings of kids, their parents, and dog lovers everywhere.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 30, 2018

Yes its sweet, dramatic, emotional and manipulative stuff from animal lover Lasse Hallström. Yes it is a shameless tearjerker and catnip for dog lovers. I am a cat person and I don't often cry at movies but this one got me. And I feel better for it.

Full Review | Aug 24, 2018

This is the sort of movie I'd have loved as a boy. It's cute and fine for kids and adults alike. Except for that dying dog motif.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 24, 2018

I bow to few people when it comes to soppiness over dogs, but one of them is Lasse Hallstrom, the director of Hachi: A Dog's Tale, and now this heartstrings-tugging mushfest.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 23, 2018

There is no need to re-litigate the controversy that sprang up around the alleged mistreatment of a dog actor in this film. A Dog's Purpose is lame enough that you should stay away regardless.

Full Review | Dec 19, 2017

An ode to (doggy) life. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Dec 7, 2017

Anyway, the movie tries so desperately hard to be emotional, intense, thought-provoking, funny, and more that the finished product is beyond rushed and wholly disjointed

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 5, 2017

A Dog's Purpose is a sentimental tearjerker.

Full Review | Nov 20, 2017

Film Review: ‘A Dog’s Purpose’

Lasse Hallström's controversial film about an oft-reincarnated pooch is guilelessly mawkish in its celebration of the canine spirit.

By Andrew Barker

Andrew Barker

Senior Features Writer

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“A Dog’s Purpose” is the type of movie that lives or dies entirely on its audience’s goodwill. With it, the Lasse Hallström film could serve as a cinematic warm blanket in this moment of national fractiousness and fear: full of adorable pooches, gentle breezes of Hallmark card philosophy, and nonpartisan rah-rah Americana. Without it, it veers dangerously close to kitsch, shamelessly exploiting one of the most reliable tear-jerking devices in fiction – the death of a dog – over and over again. Given the undesirable press that has surrounded this film over the past week, goodwill may be in short supply.

The pre-release discussion of “A Dog’s Purpose” has largely revolved around a brief, disturbing video clip , provided to TMZ by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, in which a German Shepherd performing on the film appears to be forced unwillingly into a raging water tank. The video stirred outrage and calls for a boycott, prompting Hallström and screenwriter W. Bruce Cameron (on whose novel the film is based) to issue statements in the film’s defense , as well as a thorough response from producer Gavin Polone, who acknowledged that the incident never should have happened, while also claiming that full, unedited footage from that shooting day reveals a much less objectionable picture.

Questions about this particular film’s on-set safety standards – not to mention the further-reaching debates about the ethics of using animals in film – are far beyond the purview of this review, but it’s hard to deny that the scandal colors the viewing of what is otherwise a guilelessly mawkish celebration of the canine will to power.

Popular on Variety

Predicated on an unexplained notion of doggy reincarnation, “A Dog’s Purpose” first introduces us to an eager stray puppy, soothingly voiced by Josh Gad, who narrates his confused introduction to the planet sometime in the early 1960s. Before three minutes have passed, he’s swiftly netted by a dog catcher and packed into the back of an animal control truck, after which he wakes up as a different dog. (The moment passes quickly enough that his implied fate will go over the heads of most youngsters, but it’s an oddly dark start to a film that will be largely sweetness and light from here on out.)

For his second time around, our protagonist is a hyperactive Golden Retriever puppy in a Midwestern small town, adopted by a cute little tyke (Bryce Gheisar) named Ethan. Naming the dog Bailey, Ethan has to work hard to convince his grumpy father (Luke Kirby) to keep the pup, and house-wrecking incidents are never in short supply. Often shooting low from a dog’s-eye perspective (albeit in color), Hallström wrings every ounce of cuteness out of Bailey’s antics, and his narrated attempts to understand cause-and-effect will surely tickle younger viewers.

After growing into a teenager (KJ Apa), Ethan enlists Bailey’s help to court a neighborhood girl named Hannah (Britt Robertson), and the pooch bears witness to Ethan’s burgeoning football stardom and his father’s descent into alcoholism. When a bizarre accident sidelines Ethan’s athletic career and leads to his breakup with Hannah, Bailey struggles to understand the gamut of human emotions, and eventually dies a comfortable old-age death. From here on, he’ll find himself embodying a variety of different breeds and genders, from an apartment-dwelling lap dog to a fearless K9 police recruit, though his final incarnation, as a stray who finds his way to a farmer played by Dennis Quaid, is designed to pack the most punch.

Except for one violent incident, the recurring depictions of doggy death are heavier on tear-duct-tugging than on upsetting details, although the film’s squishy theology could very well trigger some unintended consequences with its smallest viewers. (It’s hard enough to convince a traumatized child to choose another animal from the shelter – imagine if they insisted on finding the reincarnation of their former pet?) But viewed in a vacuum, it’s hard to fault the movie’s earnestness; Hallström’s canine cinema pedigree (which includes the superior “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale”) shows through; and Rachel Portman’s score is understandably sentimental without going completely saccharine.

As for the human actors on display, Quaid stays in his wheelhouse as a gruff but kindhearted old salt, and John Ortiz gives his all as a lonely Chicago cop, but the focus remains squarely on the performances of the film’s animal stars. Whether that will be a blessing or a curse at the box office remains to be seen.

Reviewed at Arclight, Hollywood, Jan. 23, 2017. MPAA rating: PG. Running time: 100 MIN.

• Production: A Universal Pictures release of an Amblin Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment presentation in association with Walden Media of a Pariah production. Producer: Gavin Polone. Executive producers: Alan Blomquist, Mark Sourian, Lauren Pfeiffer.
• Crew: Director: Lasse Hallstrom. Screenplay: W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Audrey Wells, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky, based on the novel by Cameron. Camera (color): Terry Stacey. Editor: Robert Leighton.
• With: Britt Robertson, KJ Apa, John Ortiz, Dennis Quaid, Juliet Rylance, Luke Kirby, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Peggy Lipton, Pooch Hall, Josh Gad

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Review: ‘A Dog’s Purpose,’ With Many Lives and Many Clichés

• Share full article

By Neil Genzlinger

• Jan. 25, 2017

You don’t need an animal-rights group’s boycott to give you permission to avoid “A Dog’s Purpose.” You can skip it just because it’s clumsily manipulative dreck.

The movie, directed by Lasse Hallstrom and based on a novel by W. Bruce Cameron, serves up one cloying story after another as it drags us through the multiple lives of a dog named Bailey (voiced by Josh Gad). Bailey dies, as dogs do, yet keeps being reincarnated, as a different breed and sometimes a different sex.

He has a few cute mannerisms and tricks that are consistent from life to life, which ultimately becomes tear-jerkingly important as he tries to find his way back to Ethan (Bryce Gheisar, K. J. Apa or Dennis Quaid, depending on which year and dog it is), an early owner with whom he was especially tight.

Movie Review: ‘A Dog's Purpose’

The times critic neil genzlinger reviews “a dog's purpose.”.

“A Dog’s Purpose” tells the story of the many reincarnated lives of a dog named Bailey. In his review writes: The movie serves up one cloying story after another as it drags us through. It’s also family friendly, the vignettes being nothing but a string of nonthreatening clichés with a dog injected into them. An animal-rights group’s boycott isn’t necessary to give audiences permission to avoid this film, it can be skipped just because it’s clumsily manipulative dreck.

Along the way, though, he has various other owners, allowing the movie to indulge in assorted hero-dog fantasies. Save people from a burning house? Check. Plunge into raging waters to keep a child from drowning? Check. Nudge a lonely woman into a romantic relationship? Check. Only “Timmy has fallen into a well” is missing.

It was that raging-waters scene, by the way, that incurred the wrath of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , which has urged a boycott of the film. A video published by TMZ showed a dog resisting being put in the water during the scene’s filming; others have said the video is misleading.

The PETA opposition will no doubt trouble some of the dog lovers at whom this film is aimed. (Reviewer discloser: have a cat; am neutral about dogs.) They may not be able to resist anyway, because hey, it’s dogs delivering insipid lines about bacon and the joys of eating from the garbage.

It’s also family friendly, the vignettes being nothing but a string of nonthreatening clichés with a dog injected into them. Which brings up another shortcoming of this film: It seems likely to prompt youngsters to ask for a dog, but it depicts almost none of the challenges and responsibilities of pet ownership. In this glossy world, dogs require little maintenance. They’re just there, at the ready, waiting for you to fall into a river so they can pull you out.

A Dog’s Purpose Rated PG for mildly harrowing moments. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes.

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• Review: <em>A Dog’s Purpose</em> Is More Than the Sum of Its Scandals

Review: A Dog’s Purpose Is More Than the Sum of Its Scandals

M ovies about dogs are always excruciating for dog lovers. Even if nothing terrible happens, the anxiety that something might–ticking away minute by paw-scrabbling minute–is torture.

Nothing truly terrible happens in Lasse Hallström’s mostly warm and fuzzy A Dog’s Purpose , with the exception of a sequence in which a police dog commits an act of bravery that costs her her life. But even though Hallström ( Chocolat , The Cider House Rules ) seems to have taken care to make sure A Dog’s Purpose , based on W. Bruce Cameron’s novel , isn’t too harrowing for the tenderhearted, a behind-the-scenes drama has threatened to mar the pleasures of the film: after TMZ posted a disturbing tape showing an apparently terrified dog actor, a German shepherd named Hercules, being forced to perform a stunt, PETA called for a boycott.

It all starts charmingly enough. A golden retriever named Bailey–his cheerful, red rubber ball of a voice, heard in voice-over, provided by Josh Gad –becomes the best friend of Ethan (played as a boy by Bryce Gheisar and as a teenager by K.J. Apa) and lives a long, happy life. Then he dies, but there’s no need to bring tissues: before we know it, he’s reborn as the German shepherd pup who’ll eventually become that heroic police dog. As the reincarnation merry-go-round whirls on, he restarts life as a beloved corgi who also lives to a blissful old age. After that, he reappears as a Saint Bernard–Australian shepherd mix who, after a young adulthood of being chained miserably in a yard (excruciating minutes alert!), finds his way to the ultimate happiness.

There–that wasn’t so bad, was it? But all that reincarnating is hard work, and watching it unfold is a slog too. The best thing about A Dog’s Purpose are the two humans who show up near the end. Peggy Lipton–the undercover-cop dream girl from The Mod Squad –appears, resplendently, as one man’s long-lost love. The life she’s lived in the interim has made her what she is, though she carries it as lightly as a moonbeam. Dennis Quaid is a taciturn farmer whose dreams were shattered long ago, and if that sounds like a cliché, reserve judgment until you see Quaid’s face: his character has lost sight of the sun but also yearns for it, and it’s those dual sine waves that have kept him going–you see it in the curve of his frown, but also in that of his eventual smile.

If the world had its priorities straight, there’d be a whole romantic movie built around Quaid and Lipton. We also wouldn’t have to worry about on-set animal abuse. As the film’s producers investigate the circumstances of that leaked video, at least there’s also evidence of canine joy in A Dog’s Purpose , in the form of movie-star mutts chasing their tails and fetching semideflated footballs. That part looks like fun–and when fun is involved, a dog’s face doesn’t lie.

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Review: A Dog's Purpose Is Sweet, Silly, Weepy—and Doggone Controversial 

Josh Gad and Dennis Quaid star in the unexpectedly controversial new movie A Dog's Purpose

Tom Gliatto reviews the latest TV and movie releases for PEOPLE Magazine. He also writes many of the magazine's celebrity tributes. 

What we have here is a case of the tail wagging the dog — wagging the tail so wiggly-waggly-wildly that the dog cannot possibly be enjoying it.

So we begin to discuss A Dog's Purpose , directed by Lasse Hallström. This dumb, sweet, indulgently weepy movie has all but disappeared in the hubbub over the controversial viral video of a stunt dog — a German shepherd — being forced by his handler into a pool of churning water.

The footage has been a public-relations disaster for the movie , with animal-welfare groups calling for a boycott and people affiliated with the movie countering that the video isn't an accurate representation of Hercules' behavior (the dog is named Hercules) — that, among things, Hercules was just flummoxed because this particular stunt was not being staged as it had been rehearsed. That Hercules is happy and well.

But let's move on to the actual A Dog's Purpose playing in theaters . The movie wouldn't tax the intelligence of a flea — it's about a dog, reborn through many canine lives, in search of meaning and happiness — but even so it succeeds on its own, Kleenex-consuming terms. It's the Manchester by the Sea of animal movies.

The difference is that Manchester draws you into a story of terrible sadness that makes you reflect on what it means to be human, which is always good reason to sob. Purpose, on the other hand, makes you cry, over and over, because of how upsetting it is to see any dog, young or old, lay down its noble, dutiful, trusting head and quietly submit to death. This is foolproof, sob-generating stuff.

Up to a point, actually, A Dog's Purpose is very easy to resist. Most annoyingly, it's narrated with faux-naïf boyishness and puppyish pep by Josh Gad as the dog. He sounds as if he were Tom Sawyer running around on an additional two legs.

(And wouldn't a dog sound more like John C. Reilly? Yes, it would. Or even Jeremy Irons, depending on the breed.)

But then the dog, a beloved old retriever, expires on the veterinarian's table, surrounded by the family that loved him, and it's just awful and you start crying.

He's immediately resurrected as a brand-new puppy, all bally-bouncy, but you know that inevitably he'll sink, at the very least, beneath the terrible fact that one human year equals seven dog years. After a few more death scenes, you just give in and sniffle through the rest of the movie — even when the dog somehow has a karmic reconnection with a previous owner (Dennis Quaid), a plot contrivance that's not only ridiculous but faintly irreligious.

All that being said, however, I and my veil of tears exited a screening of the movie several days before the video had surfaced.

If you arrive at the movie with a mental image of Hercules slipping into that pool, you might be less emotionally enthralled to watch the movie's dog, in his incarnation as a German-shepherd police dog, heroically swim through dangerous waters. You might reflect on the confusing conflation of a stunt dog's purpose and a fictional police dog's. You might also admit to yourself that, short of being named Moses and embarking on a stroll into the Red Sea, you yourself would never brave such waters on command.

It's a dog's life, one way or the other, for better or worse.

In theaters Friday, rated PG. Get tickets here .

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‘A Dog’s Purpose’ Review: This Sappy Canine Drama Should Be Put to Sleep

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

I’m an unshakable dog lover, heart and soul – you wouldn’t have to do much to get me wagging my metaphorical tail just by making a movie about pups being pups. So A Dog’s Purpose had me at first bark. Then along came PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) with disturbing news: A video clip, originally aired on TMZ, showed a German Shepherd resisting being forced into a water tank to film a rescue scene. The “alternative facts” claimed the animal wasn’t coerced at all, just momentarily disoriented when the angle of the scene shifted. Watch the clip, if you can take it, and make your own decision.

In the spirit of due diligence, here’s my review of the film itself. Directed by Lasse Hallström ( My Life As a Dog, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat ) from a bestselling novel by W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog’s Purpose is preposterous and, at first, hard to resist. It concerns a retriever named Bailey (voiced by Josh Gad ) who gets a boy, Ethan (Bryce Gheisar), to adopt him. Rather than watch his parents fight, the kid prefers the joys of letting Bailey do springboards off his back and play catch with a deflated football. Even when Ethan becomes a horny teenager (K.J. Apa, a.k.a. Archie in TV’s new Riverdale ), he still has time for good buddy – that is until he goes off to college and his pet dies of loneliness.

That’s right, I said dies. Then Bailey is reborn as a girl – a German Shepherd named Ellie who works as a police dog and, after performing a water rescue (that scene I mentioned earlier), gets shot and killed on the job.

That’s right, I said shot and killed. Next up, Bailey is a corgi helping a shy college girl (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) put some bite in her love life. At least the corgi gets to die of old age this time (cue the time-lapse montage).

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That’s right, I said die – again. And then reborn as Buddy, a scruffy mutt who gets chained up in a yard until he escapes and finds his way back to Ethan, now a lonely hermit played by Dennis Quaid who sees something in the mutt that reminds him of, you guessed it, Bailey. Only suckers will well up (OK, I did a few times). But even I can’t get the clip out of my mind of that distressed German Shepherd, making it clear he didn’t want to go into that effing water. A manipulative script about dog reincarnation that whacks your emotions like a piñata – that’s forgivable. Not this. It shouldn’t happen to a dog.

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‘a dog’s purpose’: film review.

A dog is reincarnated several times over in 'A Dog's Purpose,' an adaptation of W. Bruce Cameron's best-selling novel.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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Few movies have received more damaging publicity than the adaptation of W. Bruce Cameron’s best-seller about a serially reincarnated dog. And even though the allegations of animal abuse are currently being disputed, they are bound to deter some dog lovers, the film’s very target audience, from seeing A Dog’s Purpose .

Since this reviewer is in no position to determine the veracity of the charges — the film’s producer, Gavin Polone (a frequent contributor to The Hollywood Reporter ), vigorously disputes them — only the finished product will be judged. This effort from director Lasse Hallstrom (who explored similar canine-themed territory in Hachi : A Dog’s Tale ) proves a cloyingly sentimental, schmaltzy tearjerker that will nonetheless tug at the heartstrings of anyone who’s ever loved a pet. Audiences cannot help but respond to the film’s very first shot, a close-up of a litter of newborn puppies.

Release date: Jan 26, 2017

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'a dog's purpose' writer says on-set video "mischaracterizes what happened".

Josh Gad, who seems to be cornering the market on voice performances, vocalizes the various dogs in a storyline that spans several decades. It begins with Bailey, an adorable golden retriever puppy rescued from a sweltering, locked cry by 8-year-old Ethan (Bryce Gheisar ) and his mother (Juliet Rylance ). Adopted despite the reservations of Ethan’s stern, alcoholic father (Luke Kirby), the pooch forms an indelible bond with the boy, who grows into a strapping teen athlete (KJ Apa of new series Riverdale ). Bailey also plays a not insignificant role in the romantic relationship between Ethan and his classmate Hannah (Britt Robertson), who comes to love the dog as much as Ethan does.

As the years go by, Bailey gets older, sicker and eventually put to sleep in a scene that will no doubt reduce anyone in the audience who’s gone through the experience with their own pets to tears. But that’s far from the end of the story. Bailey’s soul keeps being reincarnated in other dogs, beginning with Ellie, a German Shepherd who works in the K-9 division of the Chicago Police Department. Ellie’s partner, Carlos (John Ortiz), becomes deeply attached to his canine fellow officer, in part because of his own loneliness. When Ellie is killed in the line of duty, he is devastated. And so it goes, with Bailey returning as Tino , a Corgi adopted by a female college student (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), and then Buddy, an Australian Shepherd/St. Bernard Mix who endures many travails before the story comes full circle with the reappearance of the now middle-aged Ethan (Dennis Quaid ) and Hannah (Peggy Lipton).

Gavin Polone on 'A Dog's Purpose' Outcry, What Really Happened and Who's to Blame

Through it all, the story is told through Bailey’s perspective, with Gad voicing the dog who may have a limited grasp of English but proves himself a keen observer of humans. Watching Ethan and Hannah’s courtship, he describes how much they like to “wrestle and lick each other,” recognizing their ardor in the form of “that sweaty smell.” Adult viewers, at least, will find that a little of this cutesiness , not to mention the frequent POV shots from the various dogs’ vantage points, goes a long way; youngsters may become upset by the periodic depictions of doggy demises. The episodic storyline is only sporadically compelling, mostly swinging wildly from melodrama (Ethan’s father becomes violent and abusive) to silliness (Bailey swallows a rare coin, which Ethan desperately attempts to retrieve by the only means possible).  

Director Hallstrom succeeds in providing a diversified visual style to the proceedings, from the Andrew Wyeth-inspired look of the first segment to the grittier, handheld photography of the police dog episode. The soundtrack’s period-appropriate pop songs effectively convey the various time frames, while Rachel Portman’s score hammers home the emotional high points.

While the human performers are more than adequate, there’s no doubt that the canine stars carry the day. Their utter irresistibility helps a long way in terms of getting past the corny plot machinations of A Dog’s Purpose .   

Production companies: Amblin Entertainment, Reliance Entertainment, Walden Media, Pariah Entertainment Group Distributor: Universal Pictures Cast: Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid , Peggy Lipton, Bryce Gheisar , KJ Apa , Juliet Rylance , Luke Kirby, Gabrielle Rose, Michael Bofshever , Britt Robertson, Logan Miller, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Pooch Hall, John Ortiz Director: Lasse Halstrom Screenwriters: W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon , Audrey Wells, Maya Forbes, Wally Wolodarsky Producer: Gavin Polone Executive producers: Alan Blomquist , Mark Sourian , Lauren Pfeiffer Director of photography: Terry Stacey Production designer: Michael Carlin Editor: Robert Leighton Costume designer: Shay Cunliffe Composer: Rachel Portman Casting: John Papsidera

Rated PG-13, 99 minutes

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'A Dog's Purpose' Review: An Uninspired Attempt at an Inspirational Film

The controversy may have killed it, but this was never going to be a hit.

I’m gonna get one thing out of the way: I love dogs. And not in a casual “general animal” fan kind of way either – I’ve been known to tear up watching dog vines on Twitter and to lose my train of thought when confronted with a particularly cute mutt on the street. In a lot of ways, A Dog’s Purpose is a film geared specifically for me. But despite the film’s cuddly subject matter and family-friendly tone, it's reliably too dark for children and too dully felt for adults, making it a film I'm not quite sure is for anyone at all.

The premise, for what it’s worth, is shockingly complex for a wide release family film: a single dog (voiced by a superb Josh Gad ) searches for his purpose in life, throughout a series of reincarnations and a handful of quirky owners – and while his consciousness stays the same throughout, his various owners age and progress in time. Phew, I know.

The audience is privy to five of the canine’s lives: the first is cruel, and terminates in an unceremoniously short trip to the pound, setting the film off in a strange, off-kilter tone before returning for what is easily the film’s most frustratingly lengthy segments as young pup named Bailey. Bailey is a darling retriever, floppy eared and immeasurably exuberant, and after enduring a small amount of trauma at the hands of some cartoonishly greedy garbage men, finds himself in the arms of an equally energetic kid. The boy, named Ethan (played at different stages in his life by Bryce Gheisar , K.J. Apa and Dennis Quaid ) is sweet, and his scenes with the dog are every inch Norman Rockwellian idyll, with the notable addition of more than a few poop jokes. But inevitably, life intervenes. There’s an alcoholic father, a snide and destructive bully and a calamitous accident that displaces Bailey and changes the course of his owner’s life forever.

If any of that sounds layered or intriguing, I promise you, it's not. For all the film’s investment in “purpose” and humanity, A Dog’s Purpose seems uninterested in either, preferring instead to paint in broad, predictable strokes and dealing in tinny Americana rather than fundamental human truths. The script, which is performed largely by Gad in his various doggy incarnations, is woefully dull and unrelentingly immature despite his best efforts; so much so that Bailey’s resigned admission that “being alone might be the worst thing to happen to you” feels deeply profound in comparison to the inanity that precedes it.

By all accounts, Lasse Hallstrom is an incredibly talented director: he's the man behind The Cider House Rules , What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and the aptly titled My Life as a Dog , and he certainly knows how to craft a smart and complex narrative landscape bolstered with compelling visuals. But A Dog’s Purpose isn’t just flat on story, it can also be exasperatingly difficult to watch, particularly in the first act in which Hallstrom plays with bouncy dog POV, resulting in a theatrical experience that would more likely induce vomiting rather than trigger oxytocin. But when the film is touching, it’s touching – in terms of puppy tear-jerking, this is Marley and Me on speed – and anyone willing to pay the price of admission will certainly get their money’s worth in “I can’t believe I’m doing this” tears.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure how many people will pay the price of admission after this week. The leaked on-set video that featured a German Shepherd in duress before being plunged into water (whether it presents a clear picture of the events or not, a fact that’s been heavily debated by the producer of the film and star Dennis Quaid  as falsely edited footage in the days leading up to its release) certainly poses a threat to the film’s marketability, and pitches the film’s animal-centric musings in an unfavorable hypocritical light. Ultimately, the film’s quality makes my quandary of whether or not I should endorse the film moot – I don’t think I would recommend A Dog’s Purpose regardless of any behind the scenes issues. It’s certainly not the worst film you’ll see this year, but it’s one I’m willing to bet you won’t remember by the end of it.

A Dog's Purpose  is in theaters this weekend.

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• DVD & Streaming

A Dog’s Purpose

• Comedy , Drama

Content Caution

In Theaters

• January 27, 2017
• Voice of Josh Gad as Bailey the dog; Bryce Gheisar as young Ethan; K.J. Apa as teen Ethan; Britt Robertson as teen Hannah; Dennis Quaid as adult Ethan; Peggy Lipton as adult Hannah; Juliet Rylance as Elizabeth Montgomery; Luke Kirby as Jim Montgomery; John Ortiz as Carlos; Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Maya Williams; Pooch Hall as Al; Nicole LaPlaca as Wendi

Home Release Date

• May 2, 2017
• Lasse Hallström

Distributor

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

“What is the meaning of life? Are we here for a reason? Is there a point to anything?”

These questions have occupied seekers, mystics, theologians and philosophers for millennia. And, it turns out, a curiously contemplative pooch named Bailey, who voices those exact questions at the outset of A Dog’s Purpose , the tail, er, tale of a remarkable canine’s quest to sniff out the meaning of his life.

Or, as we’ll see, his lives .

The dog’s first life—and it’s a brief one—ends with his euthanasia in a pound almost as soon as it’s begun. Just like that, though, he’s back, mysteriously reborn in a new furry body … but with the same unique, self-aware consciousness he had the first time around.

The pup’s second life is nearly just as short, as the men who find him unwisely lock him in a sweltering truck. But he’s rescued (in the late 1950s) by a feisty woman and her son, who break a window to retrieve him. Soon the dog, named Bailey, has a permanent home with the Montgomery family.

Bailey and his best bud, Ethan, grow up together. Wherever Ethan is, Bailey—or “Bailey, Bailey, Bailey, Bailey, Bailey,” as Ethan almost always calls him—isn’t far behind, influencing events and offering his own unique perspective on Ethan’s existence.

Bailey cunningly engineers a meeting between Ethan and the young of his young life, for example, a girl named Hannah. Bailey likes the young woman too, adding, “Plus, she smells like biscuits.” But he’s unsure why Ethan’s always looking for food in Hannah’s mouth. “He never found anything,” Bailey muses about the pair’s frequent smooching. “And he looked a lot.”

It’s an idyllic life for Ethan, who goes through high school and eventually gets a college football scholarship, and Bailey, who’s been there every step of the way.

But idylls rarely last. And neither do dog’s lives—even when they live for decades. A tragedy shatters Ethan’s dreams. And Bailey, well, his faithful, furry days eventually come to a bittersweet end.

Except that … they don’t .

Bailey’s reborn again. And again. And again. Living out one dog’s life after another, sometimes with kind and loving owners (such as Maya Williams), sometimes with struggling ones (such as a police officer named Carlos). Sometimes with downright cruel ones

As Bailey’s many lives and the decades they span stack up, occasionally he wonders what ever became of Ethan. And Hannah. And their lives. Until one day at the dog park, as a lonely, bedraggled and abandoned stray, the perpetual pooch catches scent of something … familiar.

“I know that smell,” he realizes. “It’s from a long time ago.”

Perhaps now, after all these years and lives, Bailey can finally discover the purpose he’s sought for so long.

Positive Elements

A Dog’s Purpose is ostensibly about Bailey’s attempt to find meaning throughout his many lives. But the meaning he eventually articulates applies equally to us humans, too. Bailey’s final philosophical statement about his purpose encompasses a canine combination of carpe diem (“Have fun!” he advises), sacrificial service (“Save the ones you can save”), delightfully sloppy affection (“Lick the ones you love”) and being present in every moment (“Just be here now”). There’s nothing inherently spiritual about Bailey’s philosophy of life, but it doesn’t glaringly contradict Christian orthodoxy either.

The film poignantly illustrates how much we need love, affection and companionship—both the kind a dog can provide as well as the kind that we really need other humans to bring. Bailey says early on, “Every night as I fell asleep, I thought of how happy I was that I had an Ethan.” Another incarnation of Bailey is owned by Carlos, a police officer who’s apparently lost his wife (whether to death or divorce is unclear). Carlos is obviously in mourning, and Bailey does his best to cheer him up. But it’s clear that there’s only so much the dog can do to help the man through his aching loss.

Likewise, college student Maya is somewhat socially awkward. And though she longs for marriage, she tries to convince herself—successfully for a time—that the love of a dog is enough for her. But she eventually finds a man to marry (who has a female dog of his own whom Bailey adores).

As for Ethan, the tragedy he experiences as a young man is one that he’s never gotten over. Decades later, Bailey’s return (as a different dog, obviously) becomes the catalyst that helps heal Ethan’s broken heart. The dog plays an important role in coaxing Ethan into giving love another chance.

Spiritual Elements

Reincarnation is obviously a central plot device in A Dog’s Purpose . Bailey comes back over and over and over again, reborn repeatedly into the bodies of different kinds of dogs. But his consciousness is always the same, and he retains memories from previous existences.

The film never offers any real spiritual explanation for Bailey’s various canine iterations. It never even uses the word reincarnation , nor does it delve into the Eastern worldviews (such as Hinduism or Buddhism) that typically espouse the idea of deceased creatures being reborn as something or someone else. What’s more, it’s never hinted at or insinuated that humans might have multiple lives. Nor, it seems, do any of the other dogs in the story.

There’s no other spiritual content in the film.

Sexual Content

Bailey plays a role in introducing Ethan and Hannah by running up to her and shoving his snout up her skirt. Ethan and Hannah kiss on several occasions, and some of the kisses are quite passionate. We see them swimming together in conservative bathing suits, and she wears a tank top elsewhere. As noted, Bailey continually makes comments about them “licking” each other.

In one incarnation, Bailey’s somewhat shocked to discover that he is now a she : “What?! I’m a girl?” In another life, Bailey (now male again) is quite taken with a female dog.

Elsewhere, we see several college couples kissing. A young woman’s head is visible as she takes a bubble bath. A snippet of the ’80s TV drama Dynasty shows a woman wearing a dress with a plunging front. A woman’s wedding gown is a bit revealing.

Violent Content

A jealous rival of Ethan’s (whom Ethan hits during an argument) drops fireworks through the family’s front door mail slot, resulting in a terrible fire. Everyone manages to escape with their lives, but Ethan’s injured in the process.

It’s suggested that Ethan’s father is an alcoholic in part because of his obsessive anxiety about nuclear destruction. He fixates on the Cuban Missile Crisis (reading about it in the paper) and tells his adolescent son, “We’re three seconds from annihilation.” At one point, he pushes his wife down to the ground harshly, prompting Ethan (who’s in college at that point) to spring to her defense and demand that his dad leave.

Another tense scene involves police officer Carlos and his dog (who’s a trained K9 animal) pursuing a man who’s kidnapped a young girl. The dog rescues the girl after she’s tossed into a raging spillway near a dam. The dog also saves Carlos from being shot, but gets hit by a bullet himself, ending his life. (We see a bloody wound on the dog’s side.)

An impoverished woman adopts another version of Bailey, but her partner (it’s unclear whether they’re married) despises the dog and treats him cruelly, chaining him up outside even in very cold weather.

A slapstick scene involves Bailey tripping guests, with one woman plunging into food on a table. Two women in a Dynasty snippet on TV get into a tangle.

The deaths of various versions of Bailey are generally fade-to-black scenes, followed by a brief dreamy sequence before the dog gets a new life.

Crude or Profane Language

Ethan’s mother exclaims “Oh my god!” when she realizes the house is on fire. There may be one other indistinct misuse of God’s name in a dramatic scene. We hear about half a dozen uses of “oh my gosh.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Ethan’s father is an alcoholic. We see him drinking beer as well as sipping from a flask. He watches TV, obviously depressed, with several beer bottles and cans around him. His addiction grows gradually more pervasive throughout the unfolding of Ethan’s story. At one point, Bailey says of Ethan’s obviously inebriated father, “Dad always talks so loud when he smells this way.” (The family also sometimes drinks wine at meals.) Other characters drink champagne at a wedding.

Other Negative Elements

Dog-related toilet humor includes Bailey swallowing a prized coin (which Ethan frantically tries to get the dog to excrete), doggy flatulence and rolling around in a pile of manure. There’s also a bit of doggy backside sniffing. Bailey exclaims at one point, “My butt itches.”

A Dog’s Purpose is the kind of movie Christian moviegoers often say that we’d like to see: a sweet story that doggedly avoids gratuitous content. Granted, there’s a hair or two of mild concern, mostly in two perilous scenes that might be on the intense side for the littlest viewers, as well as in scenes that suggest a man’s debilitating alcoholism. A bit of smooching should be mentioned, too.

As for the story’s reincarnation plot device, it doesn’t seem to represent a bigger theological worldview. It’s just an imaginative way to tell this particular story. And the treatment of reincarnation here is simple enough that Christian parents could actually use it as a springboard to talk about what we believe about life after death and why we don’t believe in reincarnation.

But those minor quibbles aside, this film barks up the right tree, feeling like a throwback to a simpler time, a moviemaking era when delightful stories like this one abounded.

A postscript: In the days leading up to this film’s scheduled premiere (which was ultimately canceled), A Dog’s Purpose came under fire for leaked footage of one of the dogs apparently being coaxed against its will to jump into what appears to be raging water. Though the animal rights organization PETA has accused filmmakers of cruelty in this case, a producer for the film has fiercely defended the filmmakers and suggested that the released footage has been edited. Likewise, star Dennis Quaid has blasted the allegations as well, telling Entertainment Tonight , “It makes me angry. I never saw any abuse of any animal. And if there had been, I would have walked.”

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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A Dog's Purpose review – gooey-eyed fantasy with canine kissing

Lasse Hallström’s tale of a dog that keeps getting reincarnated is cutesy, creepy and icily manipulative

T here are a couple of worrying moments in this sentimental film when a grown man appears to be leaning in to snog a dog. A guy is apparently on the verge of sucking face with a dog. It really does look as if a full-on, with-tongues game of interspecies tonsil hockey with a dog is on the cards. This is a fantasy canino-mance, based on the 2010 bestseller by W Bruce Cameron, and the dog itself keeps getting reincarnated: adorably, heartrendingly, karmically coming back as different dogs in different story segments – retriever, corgi, German shepherd etc – but always with the same cutesy off-camera voice provided by Josh Gad and the decreasingly endearing anthropomorphic gags as he understands utterly what’s going on, but with various canine-naïf exceptions on the subject of the owner’s sex life, like a creepy hyperactive child, and with a tendency to end a scene by reducing it to woofingly chaotic farce.

The dog starts his Zen journey by being called Bailey, best friend to a good kid with a troubled home life and an alcoholic dad. Then he becomes a police dog, then in the next life is owned by a lonely college student, then subjected to abusive neglect by a dysfunctional couple, then he brings emotional solace to a farmer. It’s a weird crossbreed of Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse . Normally, I don’t mind being the hapless chew toy for a weepie animal film, but there is something so icily manipulative about a live-action non-animation film that cloyingly endows an animal with human characteristics and human piety about eternal life.

The movie’s ickiness factor is such that it’s no great surprise to see the controversial location footage that has appeared on TMZ.com, showing the scared German shepherd being forced into the water. That’s something that won’t make it into the DVD extras. But it’s impossible to watch without imagining Josh Gad’s squeaky voiceover, narrating the poor beast’s uncomprehending fear. That dog’s purpose was to entertain. Or else.

Lasse Hallström has perhaps been hired as director because of his 1985 film, My Life As a Dog, about a lonely kid passed from pillar to post, who poignantly imagines himself a dog. This creepy film is a de-evolutionary step from that, abolishing the existence of human kids and replacing them with this endlessly replicating, gooey-eyed undemanding dog.

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Movie review: ‘A Dog’s Purpose’

Dennis Quaid, right, bonds with a much-reincarnated friend in "A Dog's Purpose." Credit: Universal Pictures / Joe Lederer

Recently, we went to Manhattan to see the movie “A Dog’s Purpose.” It was amazing. We all cried at some moment, others more than the rest. It was dramatic and exciting. In all, it was a great film. Anyone with a heart will cry during this movie, so bring your tissues.

The movie takes place in a small rural town. A boy named Ethan finds a puppy and instantly falls in love with it. He asks his parents if he can keep the dog and they reluctantly let him keep it. He names the dog Bailey, and a strong bond is forged between the boy and his dog. Ethan meets a girl named Hannah and they hang out for a long time. Later in the movie, Bailey saves Ethan but when Ethan goes to college he leaves Bailey and Hannah behind. Bailey dies while Ethan is at college and becomes another dog, Ellie.

The movie is a story of Bailey’s life — the life he leads in other dogs’ bodies. Throughout the movie, the audience is taken along on one dog’s journey to find its purpose.

In the next life, Bailey, now Ellie, still wondering why a dog is on Earth and what the meaning of life is, has become a female dog. The purpose for that life is to be part of the K-9 unit. Carlos is in charge of Ellie. Ellie saves her owner’s life but at a cost; the dog dies.

He is reborn again, this time as a corgi named Tino. He belongs to a lonely college student named Maya. He also is able to “read his owner’s mind” when she wants a type of food. He goes to the dog park and falls in love with another dog named Roxy. His owner runs into the owner of Roxy. The owners eventually get married and have kids. When they have kids, the owners make a choice to put Roxy down. Without Roxy, Tino is very depressed. He eventually passes away.

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He is born again and is named Waffles by his owners. They leave him outside in the cold for years. Eventually they get rid of Waffles. The man leaves him at train tracks. Waffles goes to a dog park and smells a familiar scent. He notices he is back in the rural area he originally lived in. He tracks Ethan to his house. His presence there changes the course of Ethan’s adult life, eventually helping him to live a more satisfying and happy life.

The film has a great message at the end. Your dog is there for you no matter what, and will always love you. Dogs are meant to entertain you and love you; that is their purpose. If you are alone, then a dog would be there to comfort you. Following the many lives of one dog in this film was a unique style of storytelling. After watching this movie, you will never look at your dog, or any dog, the same way.

The cast of this film did a phenomenal job. Josh Gad was the voice of the dogs, and he did a stupendous job. Viewers could really relate to the dog Bailey’s character, largely in part due to Gad’s ability to be the dog in this film. Dennis Quaid did an amazing job playing the older version of Ethan. Though his time in the film is short, his effect on the audience is lasting. You can feel his pain and enjoy his happiness.

Bryce Gheisar played young Ethan and did a good job as well. Girls will love him, and guys will love young Hannah. Most of the main leads did a great job acting and playing the role. The entire cast did an amazing job overall.

This movie was a great film, and we rate it five Baileys out of five.

Read our interview with Dennis Quaid, who stars as the older Ethan, online: newsday.com/kidsday

We met actor Dennis Quaid, who stars as Ethan in the movie “A Dog’s Purpose,” at the Sirius XM Radio offices in Manhattan recently. He talked to us about his role in the film and the controversy surrounding the alleged abuse of a dog on the movie set.

Do you have any comments about the video with the dog?

Yes. That video was a scam and it is a shame, actually. It’s a shame that people would do something like this for money. That is what this person did. He shot this video and he edited it and he manipulated it. He waited 15 months until the movie was coming out, and then he sold it toTMZ. If he was so concerned about dogs, why didn’t he come out the very next day? I was on the set, and I would not be on the set -- I would walk off if an animal or people who would be abused. I saw all the footage that was shot that day and talked to the people that were there, and I wouldn’t be out here promoting the movie and supporting it if I had felt that the animal had been abused.

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