Cast: Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad, Peggy Lipton, Britt Robertson
Director: Lasse Hallström
I love dogs. We humans have made such a wreck of the world with this whole quest of meaning, of purpose of life. We were never grateful for the life we have, never truly appreciative of the wonder of life. We need validation for everything; we need a longer objective to justify even breathing, as if breathing in itself is not enough of a wonder. There is absolutely nothing wrong in being born, living a life and just dying but we have made up a whole bunch of nonsense just to satisfy our fantasies — of an afterlife or permanence, etc. Religion is an offshoot of this quest and so are all the traditions, practices and rituals. As humans, we can continue doing it as much as we want, but let us please spare the animals. Dogs, of all creatures, have had no such need to find a purpose, I am pretty sure that no dog is ever going to see this film and have the universe revealed to itself. And even if it happens to find interest in the purpose, I am really not sure if its purpose is to take several births, living in several bodies, every time coming back as a dog only to please his one true master, and get him to be with the woman he loves.
I repeat, I love dogs, but I really do not want to convolute their realities in order to suit mine and give me peace. You will be happy to see the film and you will be reminded of your dog if you have one or if you had one, you will definitely look at dogs in a different perspective. It is also the trademark musical signature of Hollywood when most films come to a crescendo in the end trying to leave you happy and teary-eyed. But you will have to be really stupid to look over the obvious here: Humans are incapable of handling their relationships on their own, and now they are looping in the dog to help them out. Let’s look at the film from the dog’s perspective for once and we will know the few things that can be taken away from it. First, “the point is to find no point”, we have created endless explanations for running the commerce around us and day in and day out we continue to elaborate further on the lies and notions that we hold, trying very hard to find a point of existence. For the dog, there is really no point, it just exists and that’s that.
Second, “be here now”, this is more important since we tend to live in the future or the past, being either too hopeful or hopeless, what we keep missing out on is living in the present. If we could understand this simple concept and if really enjoyed each passing moment doing what our hearts desired that very moment, it would be so much fun. A Dog’s Purpose is good to look at, purely for visual and aesthetic pleasure. Who does not want to look at a beautiful dog running in the green pastures, chasing a ball or anything that you throw at it? But have stopped for a moment and thought about whether the dog likes doing it? I mean the dog could simply be trying to help you because you seem to throw away something of value and it is just bringing it back, but you throw it again and again. If the dog could really talk, perhaps it would yell at you and tell you to keep your things carefully. But who am I kidding, all you dog owners and lovers will pour your heart and your wallets over this film, it gives you what you want, so go ahead. There are films when a reviewer wants to talk about the actors, plotlines, twists or simply the medium, but a film like this makes you numb to all those things since the basic plot is so convoluted.
The writer is founder, Lightcube Film Society
