Mr. Pig

Danny Gloves doesn't usually sign onto movies with so little to offer in the way of action/intrigue, so it was rather sad to see him floundering around trying to salvage something from this script. The relationship with his daughter doesn't ring true at all, and while we are supposed to feel sympathy toward his character there's an unshakeable fact that he's just not likeable. Everybody relates to one another in simple formulatic and cliche manners. Very dull. It takes a rare movie to take tremendous talent like this and come up with a dud.

Danny Glover turns in a heartfelt performance in Mr Pig. I enjoyed the film a great deal. Maya Rudolph is also very good as his somewhat estranged and worried daughter; although we don't see her until the film is about 2/3's over. Prior to that the audience only hears muffled snatches of their phone conversations. I feel the director should have cut to her at least once earlier in the film.

Some things don't make sense (i.e. - How does one get across the American/Mexican border without anyone inquiring as to the gigantic hog in the back of the station wagon?) The father and daughter have numerous issues to resolve and none of these come easy as Ambrose (Mr Glover) very much marches to his own drummer. The Mexican scenery is lovely and the supporting characters all fit in perfectly.

A pretty tragic story actually. This is the first Diego Luna directed film I've seen and I think he has some interesting things to say. Especially about the subject on how animals are treated and cared for.

I've always liked Danny Glover as an actor and he was really good in this one. The care he has for his best friend, the pig Howard, was very nice and heartfelt. That is what really made the movie. The fact that he wants Howard to have a nice home was a sweet gesture and I really cared for the bond they had.

The locations are good and the plot is simple and straightforward. It's a road movie too and I really like that genre. There's something very genuine and relate-able about them. The movie surprised me and I never thought I would care so much for a man and his pig on a road trip. I didn't want anything bad to happen to them.

Mr. Pig is a road movie about an old man called Ambrose (played by Danny Glover) and his friend Howard the pig. Ambrose is not well. In fact he is dying. Last thing on his agenda seems to be the task to deliver Howard to someone he trusts who will take good care of him.

This premise appealed to me quite a bit. A tale about a dying man spending his last hours with a good friend has feelgood written all over it. And I can't resist feelgood films. However Diego Luna (who you might know from Star Wars: Rogue where he plays as Cassian Andor) doesn't deliver on this. Or at least not the extent I had hoped. Biggest problem is that while most of the acting is done competently it is far from memorable or impressive. Not enough is happening on a dramatic level to make me feel or care for the characters. I did care about the pig though. He easily tops every human character in the film acting wise. He is the only one to be expressing real emotions at some pivotal moments, Maya Rudolph barely has any chemistry with Danny Glover and for the most part she is rather annoying than compelling. If she would have not been in this film it would not have mattered a single thing. To me this is quite astonishing since you would think much more would be happening between a father and daughter in the father's last moments. Especially since it is made clear that he wasn't a particularly good father and never around when he needed her. I had expected some fireworks or at least some interesting dynamics. None of that. I guess there was something of a reveal that perhaps could explain Ambrose being so very passive. Although I think Luna should us have given us more on Ambrose and how he was before we get to meet him. Maybe then I would have been more invested. But like I said I only cared about Howard and what would happen to him.

I think Diego Luna has duped Howard into thinking he was going to be a part of something special instead of this generic film. Not bad but not good by any means. I hope this film will give Howard the exposure he needs to be noticed for better productions. He truly deserves it.

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Excellent actors but unfortunately they could not save a boring script and lackluster directing. Could the story have been told better? Yes, I think so. For me, it just seemed like the writers and the director didn't really try. It just felt like everyone was simply going through the motions in a film that needed passion and talent to make it exceptional.