A Dog’s Purpose **½ (2017, Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton, K J Apa, Britt Robertson) – Movie Review

Director Lasse Hallström’s comedy drama is far fetched but quite sweet just the same, well acted and handled with conviction. It’s a cheeky sort of film that sits up and begs you to love it. Winsome though it is, it really pushes its luck though.

A dog is reincarnated several times as Bailey / Buddy / Tino / Ellie (all voiced by Josh Gad) and finally finds his purpose – to re-unite his beloved teenage owners Ethan (K J Apa) and Hannah (Britt Robertson), who had a star-crossed romance, and are now in lonely oldish age, and played by Dennis Quaid and Peggy Lipton.

Lovers of dogs, fans of old-fashioned Americana, true love and believers in reincarnation are very well catered for, and that’s quite a lot of people.

It is based on the bestselling novel by W Bruce Cameron, who is one of the five screen writers.

It is the first movie for Keneti James Apa, a Samoan Kiwi born in Auckland, New Zealand.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review

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