Review of Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009) by Wayne S — 06 Apr 2011

Rewatch: I'm disappointed the movie did not have as much emotional pull the second time around, but I'll remain as loyal to my perfect rating as the real dog was. It's still a story that cannot really be topped, and the scene where the wife comes back after 10 years is right up there with the "He can't see without his glasses scene" (My Girl) and the end of Schindler's List where he realizes he could have saved more people. On a bad day, this movie will still dehydrate you.

Original: An Akita and a Gentleman. Has a dog ever won an Oscar (there were several dogs in this film deserving)? After seeing some reviews for this movie: people who say they never cry bawling their eyes out and people who don't review movies reviewing it, I decided I had to watch it tonight.

I search for sad movies yet my list of films I will not watch in the company of others remains fairly short. Hachi very easily takes over the top spot formerly occupied by My Girl.

This is a story-driven movie. It's based on a true story that, I believe, is the best animal story I've heard, and one of the best stories of any type. Whereas many a blockbuster has lacked story or writing or acting but still pulled off some emotion, most of that is irrelevant here because the story comes gift-wrapped, and the dogs are the stars.

The cast is fine. More credit goes to the director than any one actor for capturing the essence of the story through the dogs. The akitas, however, completely steal the show. One reviewer called it "dog porn." He's just an asshole. I'm truly amazed at how well they captured the story by the expression on a dog's face.

Many movies offer a sad scene or two, often near the ending. One-third of this movie is as good as most of those scenes. I can't imagine trying to watch this in a theater with no tissues and people all around. Ha or a bottle of Gatorade handy for rehydration.

To close, it gets a perfect rating because they did well telling the story. It's just a hell of a story and they could have messed it up (thank god it was a smaller budget movie probably), but they really got it right. I won't spoil anything, but they tied up a few loose ends that I thought really made it all the more emotional. Without that, it's maybe a 9. Often when I want to see a movie this badly, it cannot live up to its expectation. This one actually exceeded it.