Director: Charles Martin Smith
Starring: Ashley Judd, Jonah Hauer-King, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, Wes Studi. Voice of Bryce Dallas Howard
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Runtime: 96 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2019

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Rating notes: Mild themes

That this is a dog-lovers table tale, pleasantly done, might be enough for a review. The obvious recommendation is that those who love dogs, have their own tales to tell about their pets, will be delighted. (On the other hand, those who can take or leave dogs, will feel that they can take or leave this story.)

One of the pleasant features of the film, for those who believe that dogs have their own distinctive personality, intelligence, and even an interior voice, is that the whole adventure is narrated by Bella, the heroine, very sweetly but sensibly by Bryce Dallas Howard. In fact, her voice-over seems perfectly natural and acceptable, making the whole adventure credible enough.

Actually, Bella, before she gets a name from her rescuer, Lucas (a sympathetic Jonah Hauer-King) has been born, along with other pups, under the foundations of a building which has to be demolished. But not only are there dogs, there are plenty of cats, many of them immediately being impounded as the film opens. But, Bella is cared for by the mother cat, a characteristic of getting on well with felines which is going to be most significant for Bella in her adventure, her way home.

Other human characters include Lucas’s mother, Ashley Judd, a war veteran in throes of depression, doing voluntary work at the Veterans Affairs centre in Denver, Colorado, where they all live. Also working there is Olivia, Lucas’s friend and – spoiler alert, obviously to be his wife! Bella, now having a name, can’t stay at home one day and is brought secretly to the VA centre, discovered, and an enormous hit with the vets.

However, all is not easy. The owner of the buildings which are to be demolished gets a court order, confronts Lucas and his mother, wants all-out war, Lucas knowing his law and getting a restriction, so more tension. However, while Bella confides in us, describing all the different games that she has learned to play and her feelings about all the humans, she breaks out of the house chasing a squirrel which leads her being taken into the pound. But, all is not lost, Lucas and Olivia are able to get Bella to safety in New Mexico.

We are told that New Mexico is 400 miles from Denver so, the dog’s way home is going to be a long one and, in fact, takes 2 ½ years, including two winters.

Lots of adventures for Bella as she jumps over the fence in New Mexico, hungry but learning to seek out humans, helped by a group of scraggy dogs who do the rounds of the bins in one of the towns, find lakes for water, keeps advancing over the territory as she plays the game that Lucas taught her, “Go Home”.

The scenery is beautiful. There are threats from wolves. Hunters kill a giant cougar but Bella befriends the young kitten and they travel the wilds together. There are hunters, one caught in an avalanche and rescued with the help of Bella and his dog, Dutch, who are taken in by two young men who live in a hut in the mountains. Bella also encounters an old homeless veteran (attracting passers-by to put money in his tin), but he goes out into the cold and dies, Bella fortunately being rescued by two kids who find her.

So, plenty of episodes on the dog’s way home – and, as we leave the cinema, everyone happy, Lucas, his mother, Olivia now Lucas’s wife, and the welcoming vets. (And even the dog catcher, a nasty type, is removed from his catching job by his superior!)

Peter Malone MSC is an Associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting.