A Dog's Journey

What if dogs really aren't this annoying when we get to hear inside their head? What if they're actually very smart or lovely?

I went into it feeling a bit low and came out of it feeling a bit better. It's a reminder that sometimes there's a beauty in just going along with ordinary life, which is short, even more so for dogs.

If there are to be more sequels, I'm hoping that future Baileys cut the chat and hark back to a time when heroism trumped cuteness and movie dogs left the punchlines to the human members of the cast.

A Dog's Journey is a series of moments, tenuously connected with little impact or consequence, with Josh Gad narrating the whole thing in an increasingly irritating juvenile tone.

This is the type of movie where all characters are either "good" or "bad," nothing in between, and the only emotions are "happy" and "sad." It's as if it was written from the emotional mindset of a dog.

There are plenty of "awwww" moments to go around, with reconciliation, support, and reunion, and plenty of human and canine characters to care for.

I do think the film somewhat works despite its corniness for its accessibility allows it to promote themes of perseverance and reaching out to family.

Whatever you want to say about any of the W. Bruce Cameron adaptations, by the time A Dog’s Journey's credits rolled, I had overdosed on cuteness.

The film celebrates family, reconciliation and loyalty.

A truly high-quality production that smartly pays attention to pacing, performances, cinematography, score, messages and...[it] authentically pays off.