WHETHER you are an animal lover or not, you can’t help but be moved by this lovely story that not only centres on a dog’s love for her owner but also, on a much deeper level, how love can transcend species, distance and pain.
This family film is based on the best-selling novel by W. Bruce Cameron, who also wrote A Dog’s Purpose (which was also turned into a live-action adaptation in 2017), among other canine-centric books.
The story is told from a dog (Bryce Dallas Howard)’s viewpoint, starting from her birth in an abandoned building, living there with her mum and siblings in peace, together with a mother cat and her litter.
But their lives are shattered when officers from the animal control department round up the mother dog and all her pups except one, as well as some of the kittens.
The lone pup is then adopted by the mother cat, and later finds a human owner in the form of Lucas (Jonah Hauer-King), a hospital worker who is also an animal rescue volunteer.
Lucas takes the pup, whom he names Bella, home to his mother (Ashley Judd), a war veteran who suffers from depression.
But fate has other plans. Soon, Bella finds herself separated from Lucas. To return to her master, she must face a daunting journey of over 400 miles.
Her encounters with people and animals (both good and bad) during her two-year trek back home make up the rest of the story.
Love is the key message here. And it is conveyed beautifully.
Some elements of this movie will remind viewers of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Disney’s 1993 remake of the 1963 hit The Incredible Journey.
The ending is a bit over-the-top, and could do with some trimming.
But Howard does a good job conveying Bella’s various emotions with his voice, and generally, the human actors end up playing second fiddle to the animal stars.
