Dil Dosti Aur Dogs

I wanted to like "Dil Dosti Dogs." I really did. The trailer promised a heartwarming tale about the bonds between humans and their canine companions. What I got instead was two hours of predictable storylines, wooden acting, and emotional manipulation so heavy-handed it should come with a warning label.

Let's start with the plot, or rather, plots. The film tries to weave together four different stories of people whose lives are changed by dogs. It's a format that can work well when executed properly (think "Crash" or "Love Actually"), but here the connections feel forced and coincidental. Director Viral Shah seems to have little faith in his audience's intelligence, spelling out every emotional beat with unnecessary exposition and flashbacks.

The human performances range from adequate to cringe-worthy.

The cast members who seem to be genuinely engaged are the dogs themselves.

The technical aspects aren't much better. The musical score is manipulative to the extreme, swelling dramatically at every opportunity to tell us exactly how we should be feeling.