A Dog's Purpose (2017)
Critic Reviews
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80
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New York Daily News Ariel Scotti
The film is both heartwarming and soul-shattering. Its theme of an unbreakable bond between man and his best friend is reminiscent of "My Dog Skip," "Homeward Bound" and "Old Yeller."
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60
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The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
While the human performers are more than adequate, there's no doubt that the canine stars carry the day. Their utter irresistibility helps a long way in terms of getting past the corny plot machinations of A Dog's Purpose.
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60
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Variety Andrew Barker
Viewed in a vacuum, it's hard to fault the movie's earnestness; Hallström's canine cinema pedigree (which includes the superior “Hachi: A Dog's Tale”) shows through; and Rachel Portman's score is understandably sentimental without going completely saccharine.
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55
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TheWrap Alonso Duralde
A Dog's Purpose offers many of the highlights of human-canine relations at their warmest and most affectionate, but the film chooses to skim on sun-dappled surfaces (Terry Stacey of “Elvis and Nixon” was the cinematographer) and sentimentality (Rachel Portman's score bombards the heartstrings) when it might have gone deeper
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50
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Movie Nation Roger Moore
It's all harmless enough, with the odd lump-in-the-throat moment as another dog meets his or her end. As a lifelong dog owner, I found the going rather grim.
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50
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Chicago Sun-Times Richard Roeper
Sure, we get the obligatory slapstick dog-shtick in the form of overturned food carts and disastrous dinner scenes and wacky chases, and there are some uplifting moments - but the overall mood of Lasse Hallstrom's pup-point-of-view film is ... melancholy, sometimes even grim.
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40
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We Got This Covered Matt Donato
A Dog's Purpose goes the Collateral Beauty route by preying on sadness and not earning its emotional reactions.
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30
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The New York Times Neil Genzlinger
You don't need an animal-rights group's boycott to give you permission to avoid A Dog's Purpose. You can skip it just because it's clumsily manipulative dreck.
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11
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Austin Chronicle
A misguided and utterly tone-deaf Hallmark card to the canis lupus familiaris and the people who love them.
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0
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Indiewire Jude Dry
What is the meaning of life? Are we here for a reason? Is there a point to any of this? We may never know, but knowing this movie exists may bring some viewers one step closer to giving up on the whole damn thing.
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