A DOG'S PURPOSE (PG, 100 mins)
Starring: KJ Apa, Britt Robertson, Bryce Gheisar, Juliet Rylance, Luke Kirby, Dennis Quaid, John Ortiz, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and the voice of Josh Gad. Director: Lasse Hallstrom.
LOVE never dies, nor does the four-legged hero of Lasse Hallstrom's emotionally manipulative family drama.
Based on the novel by W Bruce Cameron, A Dog's Purpose bounds through decades of American history, tightly leashed to a sentimental mutt (voiced by Josh Gad), who is reincarnated as different breeds, but never forgets the smell of his first owner.
"Are we here for a reason? Is there a point to any of this?" the pooch wonders aloud.
The point to Hallstrom's picture is to traumatise dog-loving audiences and the Oscar-nominated Swedish filmmaker encourages a deluge of saltwater tears with repetitive scenes of man's best friend saying farewell to distraught owners.
Gad's soothing omnipresent voiceover, which is less excitable than his scene-stealing turn as singing snowman Olaf in Frozen, underscores the sobs with gentle humour.
"That was the worst shot I ever got," he quips after one dog takes a bullet protecting his master from harm.
The imbalance in running time devoted to different sets of humans keeps most of the characters at arm's length and there is a gnawing predictability to the film's dewy-eyed final destination.
Golden retriever Bailey (voiced by Gad) has a brief first life in the 1950s - he is captured by men from the local dog pound and put to sleep.
In his second incarnation in 1961, he is rescued from a dangerously hot truck by eight-year old Ethan Montgomery (Bryce Gheisar) and his mother Elizabeth (Juliet Rylance).
They persuade Elizabeth's hard-drinking husband Jim (Luke Kirby) to keep Bailey and Ethan enthusiastically trains the dog, mastering an acrobatic trick with an American football.
Ethan blossoms into a strapping high school senior (now played by KJ Apa) and falls head over heels in love with classmate Hannah (Britt Robertson).
They date with Bailey as an enthusiastic chaperone.
A near fatal incident at the family home changes the course of Ethan's life and he is forced to say farewell to Bailey.
In subsequent incarnations, Bailey is a German Shepherd called Ellie and partners lonely Chicago police officer Carlos Ruiz (John Ortiz), and a Corgi called Tino, who facilitates a love match for Atlanta college student Maya (Kirby Howell-Baptiste).
Fate eventually reunites Bailey - now a Saint Bernard - with Ethan (Dennis Quaid) but the master is a world-weary shadow of his former self.
A Dog's Purpose barks a familiar tune, with a couple of daring rescues that would have made Lassie wag her tail with pride.
Scenes of animal cruelty are inferred within the bounds of a PG certificate, while Gad's silky vocal performance trots a thin line between mawkish and amusing.
"Why did I eat so many meat logs?" he laments after one animal wolfs down copious hot dogs.
Audiences may be more reluctant to swallow Hallstrom's sugary film. 5/10
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