''A Dog's Way Home'' is a 2019 American
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
adventure film
An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...
directed by
Charles Martin Smith
Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American actor, writer, and director of film and television, based in British Columbia. He is known for his roles in ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), '' Never Cry W ...
from a
screenplay
''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993.
Background
After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...
by
W. Bruce Cameron
William Bruce Cameron (born July 25, 1956) is an American author, columnist, and humorist. Cameron is most famous for his novel '' A Dog's Purpose'', which spent 52 weeks on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list. The book is the basis for the ...
and
Cathryn Michon, based on the 2017
novel of the same name by Cameron. The film stars
Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress and director. Howard was born in Los Angeles and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, initially leaving in 2002 to take roles on Broadway but officially gradua ...
,
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...
,
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...
,
Alexandra Shipp
Alexandra Ruth Shipp is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence for portraying singer Aaliyah in the Lifetime television film '' Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B'' (2014) and Kimberly Woodruff in the Oscar-nominated film ''Straight Out ...
,
Wes Studi,
Chris Bauer
Mark Christopher Bauer (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his television work in ''The Wire'', ''Third Watch'', ''True Blood'', ''Survivor's Remorse,'' '' The Deuce and'' the Apple TV+ original science fiction spac ...
,
Barry Watson, and
Jonah Hauer-King, and follows a dog named Bella (voiced by Howard) who travels more than 400 miles to find her owner.
It was released in the United States on January 11, 2019, to mixed reviews from critics and grossed $80 million worldwide.
Plot
Lucas Ray and his friend Olivia, two residents of
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
, find a
puppy
A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies can weigh , while larger ones can weigh up to . All healthy puppies grow quickly after birth. A puppy's coat color may change as the puppy grows older, as is commonly seen in breeds such as the York ...
in a construction site along with many
kitten
A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are totally dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop q ...
s and a mother
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
. He names the dog Bella and takes her home to live with him and his mother, Terri. Over the years, Lucas plays with and takes care of Bella. However, Lucas also continues to feed the cats at the old house, putting himself in the crosshairs of Günter Beckenbauer, who intends to demolish the house. He calls the city about the cats who live there, which delays the demolition.
Vengeful, Günter notifies
animal control that Bella is a
pitbull (despite not looking like one), because, in Denver, Pitbulls are illegal, due to being a dangerous breed. That evening, an overzealous animal control officer named Chuck comes by to warn Lucas that if he finds Bella on the street, he will impound her. The next day, when Bella gets out to chase a squirrel, Lucas catches up to her and prepares to take her home, but Chuck confiscates Bella and takes her into the local
animal shelter. Lucas picks Bella up, pays a fine, and is allowed to take her home, but he is warned that if Bella is captured again, she will be
euthanized
Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...
. To avoid this, Lucas sends Bella to live with Olivia's aunt and uncle in
Farmington, New Mexico
Farmington is a city in San Juan County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census the city had a total population of 46,624 people. Farmington (and surrounding San Juan County) makes up one of the four Metropolitan Statistical Area ...
, until he and his mother can find another home outside of Denver's urban limit.
However, Bella misses Lucas and leaves Farmington and begins a 400-mile journey home, which will take more than two years to complete. During Bella's journey, she befriends an orphaned
cougar
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...
cub, whom she names "Big Kitten." Bella and Big Kitten encounter many ordeals together, including being hunted by a pack of
coyotes
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...
, but a group of men help Bella and frighten the coyotes away. The three men give Bella food at their campsite and upon learning who her owner is, try to call Lucas, only to be scared away by the sudden arrival of Big Kitten. During the winter, Bella helps rescue a man buried in an avalanche. Eventually, she reaches a small town, where she is taken in by a homeless veteran named Axel until he soon dies. Back in the wilderness, Bella is attacked by coyotes again, but Big Kitten, now fully grown, returns and intervenes, successfully fighting off the coyotes. At each place Bella goes, she learns that each of her new friends has their own home, and how she must keep moving to get back to her family. After encountering further challenges, Bella finally makes it back to Denver, and she bids Big Kitten farewell before they part ways.
After briefly reuniting with Mother Cat, Bella reaches the city's VA hospital, where she joyfully reunites with Lucas, Terri, and Olivia. Lucas prepares to take Bella to the vet to treat an injury Bella received due to being struck by a car, but when Lucas, Terri, and Lucas's friends bring Bella outside, Chuck arrives with several police officers, including police captain Mica. Chuck claims that he needs to confiscate Bella again, with the threat to have Lucas and anyone who interferes arrested otherwise. Captain Mica states that he enforces the law, which states that Bella must be impounded, but Lucas and Terri stand up for Bella and explain that there is no reason to confiscate Bella as the VA hospital is
federal property, and thus it is not technically part of Denver. Captain Mica allows Lucas to keep Bella as he has no jurisdiction. Chuck threatens to pull Lucas over if he sees Bella leave the premises, but Captain Mica pulls Chuck from public field duty for his over-zealousness and the number of complaints against him, then orders the police officers not to pull anybody over just to impound a dog.
Lucas and Olivia are happy to see Bella and manage to move into a house in
Golden, where they allow Pitbulls. Meanwhile, Big Kitten is revealed to be a mother herself as she and her daughter watch over the city of Denver.
Cast
*
Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress and director. Howard was born in Los Angeles and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, initially leaving in 2002 to take roles on Broadway but officially gradua ...
as Bella (voice)
** Shelby acts as Bella.
*
Jonah Hauer-King as Lucas Ray
*
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...
as Terri Ray
*
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...
as Axel
*
Alexandra Shipp
Alexandra Ruth Shipp is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence for portraying singer Aaliyah in the Lifetime television film '' Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B'' (2014) and Kimberly Woodruff in the Oscar-nominated film ''Straight Out ...
as Olivia
*
John Cassini
John Cassini (born in Toronto) is a Canadian actor.
Career
Cassini appeared in the 1995 Brad Pitt film '' Seven''. He starred in the 2005 film '' Cool Money''. Cassini starred as Ronnie Delmarco on the CBC series ''Intelligence'', which was ca ...
as Chuck
*
Wes Studi as Captain Mica
*
Brian Markinson as Günter Beckenbauer
*
Barry Watson as Gavin
*
Tammy Gillis
Tammy Gillis is a Canadian actress who works on television and film projects across the country.
Early life and education
Gillis was born in 1971 in Dauphin, Manitoba.[Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...]
,
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...
and several others were cast in the film.
On January 24, 2018,
Barry Watson was added to play Gavin.
Filming began in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
on October 16, 2017, lasting through December 15.
Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States on January 11, 2019 by
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...
.
Sony spent $18.8 million on the production of the film.
[
It was also released on Blu-ray on April 9, 2019 by ]Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
, while the digital copy is set to be released on December 31, 2020.
Reception
Box office
''A Dog's Way Home'' grossed $42 million in the United States and Canada, and $38.7 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $80.7 million, against a production budget of $18 million.
In the United States and Canada, ''A Dog's Way Home'' was released alongside the openings of ''Replicas
A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. A ...
'' and '' The Upside'', as well as the wide expansion of '' On the Basis of Sex'', and was projected to gross $9–10 million from 3,090 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $3.3 million on its first day, including $535,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to have a debut of $11.3 million, finishing third at the box office, behind ''The Upside'' and holdover ''Aquaman
Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in '' More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially a ...
''. In its second weekend the film made $7.1 million, finishing sixth.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads "''A Dog's Way Home'' may not quite be a family-friendly animal drama fan's best friend, but this canine adventure is no less heartwarming for its familiarity." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Chris Nashawaty of ''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' called the film "Heartwarming, mildly funny, and occasionally thrilling without ever being anything more than just fine." Tomris Laffly, writing for ''RogerEbert.com
''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...
'', called it “a good dog movie with its heart in the right place" and gave it 3 out of 4 stars. Courtney Howard of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote: "For every shameless trick the filmmakers employ to pluck our heartstrings, resonant chords are struck elsewhere, teaching audiences about family, the power of unconditional love, and the ripple effects of compassion." Paul Byrnes of ''The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' gave it 3/5 stars and wrote: "There's not much variation on the old themes here. What's new is the film's definition of community and family."
Kennith Rosario of ''The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...
'' was more critical, writing: "If a dog has to make a 400-mile journey across more than two years, there's enough scope to go beyond regurgitation of old dog film tropes." Jude Dry of ''IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
'' gave it a D grade, writing: "This franchise should follow its own advice: Find a purpose, a way home, or show yourself the doggy door."
See also
* '' A Dog's Journey'' (2019 film)
* '' A Dog's Purpose'' (2017 film)
* '' Bobbie the Wonder Dog''
* ''Fluke
Fluke may refer to:
Biology
* Fluke (fish), a species of marine flatfish
* Fluke (tail), the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, such as dolphins or whales, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and metriorhynchids.
* Fluke (flatworm), parasiti ...
'' (1995 film)
* '' Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey''
* '' Quigley'' (2003 film)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dog's Way Home, A
2010s children's adventure films
2010s children's drama films
2019 films
American children's adventure films
American children's drama films
Polybona Films films
Columbia Pictures films
Films about dogs
Films based on books
Films directed by Charles Martin Smith
Films about pets
Films scored by Mychael Danna
Films set in Colorado
Films shot in Vancouver
Gay-related films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films