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'A Dog's Way Home'

A Review

By Courtney FrazerPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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Before I dive in, let me first start by saying if you haven’t seen this movie yet, be sure to bring some tissues with you when you do. I can’t remember the last time I spent nearly the entire two hours of a movie with tears rolling down my face that couldn’t be stopped. Before you read any further, I must warn you, there will be spoilers if you have not seen this movie. If you don’t mind knowing about things that happen in the movie, please continue reading. However, if you would prefer to see the movie first, I would like to invite you to go do so now and then come back to read this article. All of the following content is my opinion from the film, and I would like to remind you now that everyone sees things from a different perspective.

My first impression from the movie, A Dog’s Way Home, based on the previews, was that it would be like a newer version of the film Homeward Bound. After watching the screenplay in its entirety, I did see several similarities to Homeward Bound. I also saw a little bit of a resemblance to the Disney film “Bambi.” For starters, the film was based around a dog, Bella, trying to find her way back to her owner. Just like in Homeward Bound the animals are lost and go on a journey to find their way back to their family. The major differences are that in the original Disney film, there are two dogs and a cat that get lost after their family is taking the pets on a vacation. However, in this Sony motion picture there is only one dog and she runs away from a caretaker’s home after hearing the phrase, “go home,” something her owner had taught her in his trial to keep her as his pet. Instead of starting out as a pack, Bella meets friends along her journey to stick with, where in Homeward Bound the animals are sticking together from the beginning through the end. Something else different is that in this movie it takes Bella two years to find her way back to Lucas, her owner; while in the Disney motion picture, Sassy, Chance, and Shadow find their way home within a couple months if my memory serves correctly. As for “Bambi” when Bella meets Big Kitten,”a cougar in the wild, the Cougar’s mom had been shot right in front of the baby feline. Just like in Bambi, Bambi’s mom was shot right in front of Bambi, himself. During this scene, my mind instantly went back to the sadness portrayed by Bambi in that scene and I was overwhelmed with sadness once again imagining a baby having to grow up without a mother.

My favorite thing about this movie is the overall message. To start off, Bella is born to a mom with other puppies living under a housing structure with a cat and several kittens. All of the animals are able to get along, until one day animal control comes and takes majority of these cats and dogs away. Animal control misses Bella, the mother cat, and some kittens. Once Bella watches her mom taken right in front of her, Bella can be nurtured by an adult feline, Mother Cat, until Lucas finds the puppy and takes her in as his own. After Bella is lost, she meets several characters on her way back home. First, she encounters a pack of dogs that teach the canine how to hunt for food. Once the pack returns to their homes in the evening, Bella again searches for Lucas. Next, Bella meets a cougar kitten that has just lost her mother. Bella takes Big Kitten in as her own and becomes Big Kitten’s, “Mother Cat.” The unlikely pair stick together as Bella teaches Big Kitten how to hunt and survive in the wild just as the first pack of dogs had shown her. Throughout the entire movie, Bella is meeting several humans and touching each one’s life in a different way through unconditional love.

I really liked that this movie showed the way that one dog can touch several different lives in a canine’s lifetime. The veterans were portrayed as having a deep sadness within them and a dog helping them to cope. Also, the different animals all interacted with each other and accepted one another for who they were. It didn’t matter that they were different species and looked completely different from one another. They came together as a family and helped each other out in a time of need. A lot of humans, especially in this day and age, could learn quite the lesson from this movie. It doesn’t matter what you look like or who you are, all that matters is that love is in the heart and you can let others in.

A Dog’s Way Home is based on a book written by W. Bruce Cameron, who also helped to write the screenplay. I have not read the book yet and can not speak to how the book compares to the movie, however, I can say as a movie, this was a great one. Several different issues were tackled within the film and several messages were included to anyone who chose to see them. Veterans often have a hard time when returning home and therapy dogs can be beneficial to their recovery and fitting back in with the every day world at home. Love is important and really the only thing that matters in this world. Different people can get along if they only tried. Also, not all pit bulls are bad, and dog’s do not need to be euthanized if they are not causing any harm. Now, go save a life and adopt a dog!

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About the Creator

Courtney Frazer

Courtney has been published on Yahoo Voices, Wikinut, The National Monitor, and most recently, Vocal. She has an AA degree in Humanities and Psychology and a BS Degree in Business Finance.

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