A Dog’s Way Home

Adapted from the titular 2018 book by W. Bruce Cameron (A Dog’s Purpose), the plot of filmmaker Charles Martin Smith’s live-action canine soap opera centers on the old incredible journey chestnut of an animal making its way back to its owners over a long distance. Bella (voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard—yes, she talks) is a puppy brought up by a cat after her pitbull mother is seized by a nasty animal control officer. Bella eventually finds a home with med student Lucas (Jonah Hauer-King) and his mother Terri (Ashley Judd), the latter an army veteran coping with post-service depression. Lucas falls afoul of a developer who not only is planning to tear down some deserted houses where stray cats and dogs live but also enlists a dogcatcher to target Bella. In desperation, Lucas and his girlfriend Olivia (Alexandra Shipp) arrange for Bella to stay temporarily with Olivia’s folks in New Mexico, but she escapes and begins a perilous quest through the wilds of New Mexico and Colorado towards home. So long as the movie focuses on Bella and the animals she encounters along the way—particularly an orphaned cougar cub she befriends—the story is engaging enough, especially since the locations are gorgeous. Unfortunately, the human characters are unbearably bland—not only Lucas, Terri, and Olivia, but also the people that Bella interacts with on her journey. And it is this mediocrity of the human element that undermines one’s enjoyment of Bella’s quest. Still, this should be considered a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)