Bruce Cameron, the family film from director Lasse Hallström shares the soulful and surprising story of one devoted dog (voiced by Josh Gad) who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love. “I will say, though, that the tone of the novel is captured on the screen - the emotion, the love of these animals for their people.” JULIET RYLANCE and BRYCE GHEISAR play with BAILEY in “A Dog’s Purpose.” Based on the beloved bestselling novel by W.
“I think people will probably enjoy the movie better if they read at least one of the books first,” he noted. When the ink had dried, however, Cameron said the primary difference between the book and the film was that the film version simply did not have room for the all the original’s depth in terms of character backstories and side plots. It really feels painful to decide what has to go.” “It’s never easy to adapt a book, especially as the author, because it’s as if you’re chopping off appendages. “One of the first things that happened when my wife and I set out to write the screenplay for the film is we had to cut things because a movie cannot possibly be as long and in-depth as the book,” he said. The message of a dog’s purpose is love, and I want people to come out of the theater smiling because they have witnessed such unconditional love on the screen.” Tucker supervising the writing of his parents’ screenplay for “A Dog’s Purpose.”įans of the book can expect a somewhat trimmed-down version of the plot, but Cameron insisted the essence of the story remains. We’ve been breeding them for 30,000 years. “I hope that people who see the film will be moved by the love that these animals have for us,” Cameron said. Bruce Cameron, the family film from director Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules, Dear John, The 100-Foot Journey) shares the soulful and surprising story of one devoted dog (voiced by Josh Gad) who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love. DENNIS QUAID bonds with BUDDY in “A Dog’s Purpose.” Based on the beloved bestselling novel by W. And that’s precisely what ends up reuniting him with his beloved childhood dog, Bailey. It’s also what Dennis Quaid’s character does in the film. In the end, that’s exactly what the couple did, adopting a little 24-pound “bruiser” named Tucker, who lives at Cameron’s feet these days whenever he’s writing.
So with the book, I wanted both to comfort Cathryn and to convince her that the number one thing her dog would want is for her to get another dog.” “She died shortly before I came on the scene, but from what I understand she was a purebred Doberman Pinscher who was very high-strung, very smart and utterly, utterly devoted to her person. “I never met the real Ellie,” he told CBS News. "A Dog’s Purpose" does get better - but never to a point where it could be considered a good movie.So Cameron set about changing Cathryn’s mind the best way he knew how - by writing her a story. The only reason I stayed to watch "A Dog’s Purpose" is because it’s my job and, from past experience, I know a movie can get better. Bruce Cameron’s novel, and some disappointing directing by Lasse Hallström. Those moments, and the religious and spiritual undertones, get lost in a poor script adaptation of W. But you’re not going to laugh at the parts that are supposed to be funny, nor discover any empathy when the movie hopes you will. Yes, there are those parts that’ll make you cry, because, you know, you have a heart, you love animals and have probably lost a pet or two during your life. Overall, "A Dog’s Purpose" is cornier than an Iowa cornfield. One might ask: do you really have to be a good actor to fake being sad over the death of a pet? The answer is, yes - and those actors include Britt Robertson, Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton, John Ortiz, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and more. This movie’s only redeeming quality is that it involves good actors. Each of his owners has a conflict: a family with an abusive father a single woman who thinks she’ll never find love a lonely divorced cop and a trashy couple that puts zero effort into taking care of the dog.įull disclosure: I cried a few times, but only because watching a person’s heart break while their pet is being put to sleep is profoundly sad. The human drama surrounding each dog’s life, on occasion, makes the movie slightly more relatable and, at times, likable.
All of them are adorable, though that’s sometimes undermined by the dialogue. To give us insight into what kind of lives this dog leads, we see him as a golden retriever, a German shepherd, some sort of spaniel, some kind of little dog, and a mutt.