Movie Reaction: A Dog's Journey

Formula: A Dog's Purpose - Plausibility

I'm as surprised as anyone that I decided to see the A Dog's Purpose sequel, A Dog's Journey, which is somehow not connected to A Dog's Way Home, which only came out a couple months ago*. I saw A Dog's Purpose in theaters and mostly came out feeling cheaply manipulated. "Making me cry because a dog died isn't good writing. It just means that I really like dogs" has been my go-to critique of that movie. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only reason I saw Purpose was because it was a slow week and I'll see most things with Britt Robertson in it. A Dog's Journey had neither of those things going for it. It didn't have the inventiveness factor either. But, there I was, driving out of my way to see A Dog's Journey on a Monday night, despite being a week behind on all the TV I watch and having already seen a movie for that week.

*Seriously. A Dog's Purpose did OK in theaters, but how does it essentially have two sequels coming out in the same year?

I'm going to jump ahead a few paragraphs and say I didn't hate it. A Dog's Journey was exactly what I expected and through a number of transparently manipulative moves, got an emotional response out of me several times. But I can't stress this enough. Just because a movie includes a scene of an old Dennis Quaid lying on the ground next to his dog telling him he's a good boy as he's being put to sleep - a scene that left me sobbing and inconsolable - that doesn't really mean it's a good movie. If you put that in the middle of a Saw movie or an Uwe Boll movie, I'll be hating the movie through my tears. Credit to the filmmakers for making me feel something, but that's not the absolute measure of a movie.

I am getting ahead of myself though. A Dog's Journey is a direct sequel to A Dog's Purpose. Josh Gad still voices the dog Bailey. For my own sanity, I'm going to always call him Bailey even though he goes by many names throughout the movie. Bailey still lives with "his boy" Ethan, played by Dennis Quaid on a farm, living with Hannah (Marg Helgenberger), who he reuinited with in the first movie. Hannah's son has died, leaving behind her daughter-in-law, Gloria (Betty Gilpin), and granddaughter, CJ (played by many actresses as she ages). Gloria and CJ live with Ethan, Hannah, and Bailey for a while until Gloria abruptly leaves with CJ and cuts off all contact with them. A few years later, when Bailey is dying, Ethan asks Bailey to keep CJ safe when he is reborn. Oh yeah, the whole conceit of the movie is that Bailey is one consciousness continuing through multiple dogs' lives. It's best not to question this reincarnation angle too much. So, most of the film is Bailey continually refinding CJ and helping her in subtle ways as she goes through a host of issues like an alcoholic mother, a stalker ex-boyfriend, homelessness, and her best friend (and maybe more) getting cancer.

OK. Where to even begin? I think I liked the performances in this movie, even though there are scenes where nearly everyone forgets how to act (probably the fault of the writing or direction). This is the kind of movie in which the protagonists are the most decent people you'll every meet, and the antagonists are all one-note villains. There are no complex characters. The actors, namely Kathryn Prescott, who plays CJ for most of the movie and is the human lead character, try to add as many shades to their characters as they can, but the writing doesn't give them a lot to work with. You can sense the actors giving up on some scenes when the melodrama is too much or the lines are too clunky. I love Betty Gilpin. Watch G.L.O.W. She's a great actress. However, she is awful in this movie. It's an awful character with no nuance. Most of the cast like Prescott, Quaid, Helgenberger, and Trent Lau are likable without being interesting. Props to the actors for keeping them likable, I suppose.

Josh Gad is perfect for the voice of Bailey. His specific brand of playfulness and childlike innocence is the exact tone the movie wants for Bailey. I remember the first movie being a little more focused on the dog jokes though. I feel like Bailey takes more of a back seat this time. He still drives a lot of the movie, but CJ is the focus more than I remember Ethan being in the first one.

I don't want to be "that guy" but can someone please explain how this dog reincarnation stuff works? The first movie was about Bailey randomly being reborn and living fairly disconnected lives. It's through luck that he finds Ethan again, and it's treated like a kind of miracle. A Dog's Journey abandons a lot of that. Bailey's sole focus is CJ and he keeps showing up near her and in the right situations. Had the first movie established that Bailey is tied to Ethan's story specifically or that Bailey has some control over his next life or destiny, I don't think it would bother me in this movie. But A Dog's Journey feels like it's changing the rules midway through. In the end, I prefer this unified story over, say, including a 15 minute digression of him as a poodle in Florida or something. I'm just confused by it.

A Dog's Journey is a very pleasant movie. There aren't enough movies out there about nice people getting happy uncomplicated endings. I like those every once in a while. This isn't a movie I have to think hard about. It tells me which people to like and dislike. It goes after the easy jokes. It stays away from anything too harrowing or messy. It hit me in my emotional guy in earnest and direct ways. It's not a very good movie even though it is an effective one. And yes, I am aware of how much of a killjoy a sound like saying that.

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend