Review of A Dog's Purpose (2017) by Duncan P — 26 Aug 2017

The title and opening set it up as an existential film, but it doesn't really evolve past a really saccharine collection of dead dog movies ranging from almost completely unrelated to heavy-handedly directly connected by a metaphysical premise, and just comes across kinda emotionally exploitative in execution, without the interesting philosophy-lite things everything suggests it should have to give it all a point (and true, wide philosophical poignancy, rather than the simple lowest-common-denominator anyone-can-relate sort that undermines the grandness it tries to claim to have).

A pity, ultimately, especially in the face of better, more focused films of the genre that don't try as hard - Eight Below, for example - but an expected pity.