I have seen Alicia Silverstone in several movies, but what I remember most about her is that for me, she did not live up to Rachel Blanchard's standard in "Clueless". I wait to see movies on TV, and I had seen numerous episodes of the TV series by the time I saw Silverstone. This is not to say she wasn't good in that movie, but just that I didn't like her as much. That's the case here. I'm sure the performance was very good. Although in one tearful scene, I couldn't honestly say Silverstone was doing that good a job. I don't know why. I'm not supposed to like Olive, though. I'm a guy and I'm supposed to be on Clay's side. I think that affected my point of view.
Clay is a likable enough character. A bumbling idiot, but that's the appeal of the movie. The move he messes up, the more we're supposed to like it. At the same time, Ryan Kwanten, who I know nothing about, isn't that special.
I don't know anything about Randall Bantikoff. Clay's rival for Olive is likable enough but, for someone with my point of view, we're not supposed to like him. And sometimes he doesn't prove to be likable. But mostly he is good, I suppose. He is somewhat intimidating as he teaches people to handle their dogs.
If anyone stands out, it is Matty Ryan as Clay's best friend who is also a hockey coach. This movie needs a voice of reason and he is it. And Rhett has some nice scenes with his troubled 9-year-old nephew Koji. Devin Bethea doesn't get to do much, though he has a couple of good lines. Frankly, I was hoping Koji would need to be adopted and Clay and Olive would get back together and raise him. There are signs the secondary plot will move in that direction, and that's all I will say about that. The scenes with Koji do add a lot but didn't reach their full potential.
If it's all about the dog, the dog isn't that special but does provide us some comedy. I'm not a dog person and don't even like dogs.
As to whether this is a comedy, it is funny at times but there is enough sadness and enough conflict that comedy-drama might have been appropriate. I'm not saying this had to be a comedy to be good. It just didn't reach its full potential as a comedy, and it needed the drama too.
I didn't like the music all that much. There was nice acoustic guitar at the beginning with a song that eventually had drums that were too loud for my taste. At the festival there was a band that was somewhere between country and rock. And at the hockey games there was heavy metal which I definitely didn't care for. The music with the closing credits was some kind of alternative rock which wasn't my taste either.
Is it family-friendly? I see no reason why a TV-14 was necessary when I saw it. In fact, there was also an L. Why? All the bad language was removed. The only words I could think of in situations where the sound went out were words broadcast TV not only allows but puts in G-rated shows. Someone really went overboard. The scariest scene was one with dog expert Glenn who has brought a dog who was trained to fight and kill. Glenn has control. But anyone seeing that, including the dog owners, will certainly worry.
Yes, it's a formula. I like the formula. But I've seen better.
