A Dogs Way Home!

I needed a couple hours of escape. What better than to go see a movie about a dog?

A Dog's Way Home is cookie cutter cute dog gets lost and has to find her way home movie. It has a paint by numbers script, a terrible CGI mountain lion, terrible CGI wolves, and villains right out of central casting.

All that said. I was taken in by all of it.

Bella is a homeless pit bull (she doesnt look like one but whatever) living under a house with a bunch of cats when she gets taken in by the neighborhood softie medical student. The local dog catcher has hard on for Bella and cannot wait to take her in as Denver has a no pit bull ordinance (hey thats like racism against dogs says one character). Yeah it sort of is. And that is where this movie begins to take on subjects you would not expect in a movie about a lost dog.

Bella is taken to New Mexico while his owners find new quarters outside dog-ist Denver city limits. But Bella must go home and she escapes and begins a 400 mile journey back to Denver.

Along the journey we encounter the addressing of subjects like homophobia, homelessness, veterans issues, police brutality and death. I assume the film makers expected these subjects to go over the head of the kids this movie appeals to, but I dont see how. I mean my goodness, Edward James Olmos pops in as a homeless vet living a dangerous life. Bella almost doesnt survive this particular situation. Its really quite harrowing to a child to see this dog in deep danger not to mention Olmos'scary look.

Wolves stalk Bella the entire journey, a mountain lion is her only friend, and she is taken in by two men who put a rainbow collar on her and save her from a terrible person.

The movie ends happily of course, but this journey is very adult. Like I said, there is nothing here that will surprise you, its not a good movie, but dammit it had me dabbing tears at various points.

You love dogs. It'll work for you.