A Dog Year

As it turns out, the guy in question is writer Jon Katz (Jeff Bridges), who is not only suffering from a midlife crisis, but also from writer's block.

Jon takes in a rescue dog offered to him by one of his readers. The dog is Devon, a young border collie with issues - and I mean serious issues. Jon has two gorgeous Labradors of his own, who are well trained and obedient. Devon is the opposite, and seems impossible to train.

Jon's wife has moved out to give them 'space'. We never see this character in the film and Jon only has telephone conversations with her. His daughter Emma comes to visit, but she too has a difficult time reconnecting with her father.

With Devon becoming a terror to the neighborhood, Jon decides to rent a farm in the country, where he hopes to train Devon, and find inspiration to write. What follows, is big character development for both man and dog.

As a big dog lover, I instantly connected with the movie, the characters, and off course the dog(s). This is an entertaining movie that never becomes silly, unbelievable or sentimental. It felt realistic and relatable, with a simple premise.

First off all, I loved this movie. It is just so hard to come by a decent movie in the past few years because almost all of them are filled with sex, violence, killing, drugs, etc. all that corruptness. Movies like this are one in a million among all that crap. So, that is one thing. Then, as an animal lover, this movie won my heart right away. If you have a pet or pets, you know how special a bond there is between you and them. It is love at its purest form and I don't believe it can be achieved between two humans. Jeff Bridges is brilliant as always and he plays a somewhat troubled man, having a writer's block and on a time-out from his wife and daughter. He already has two dogs but then this dog - Devon - enters his life but Devon is an abused dog, so he (Jeff Bridges) has trouble for a long time trying to live with him but he doesn't give up on this dog, he doesn't abandon him. Same rule applies if you wanna get along with an animal or a human: What's important is understanding and accepting each other, instead of forcing your wants and always going "my way". Or, this is me, sorry. No, we gotta learn to bend a little without losing our own identities. And finally, you can watch this one with your kids as there are no sex, violence drugs, etc.

Jeff bridges : is truly a legend.

its a sweet movie about a writer and his dog. enjoyed the movie thoroughly. The movie was simple and straight. Heart warming and happy ending.

Must watch for every dog owner. Or any animal owner or animal lover for that matter.

This movie is quite informative for inexperienced dog owners. Gives you a gist of how to care for an animal that has been through some trauma or is getting used to a new home.

a must watch for every animal lover !

A dog movie that's not overly manipulative? That's one in a million. In all seriousness, 'A Dog Year' doesn't contain those certain scenes that most dog films too, or at least they don't play it off like something like Marley & Me. But it also doesn't necessarily have the heart that something like A Hachi's Tale or Megan Leavey do. So while it doesn't reinvent the genre in any way, it's a quick 80 minutes that gives you an enjoyable Jeff Bridges performances and plenty of good pup pup moments. I'll take it.

7.1/10

This was okay, not great but interesting especially as a dog lover and watchable because of Jeff Bridges. He plays a writer who impulsively adopts an energetic border collie that turns his already frantic midlife crisis even crazier. Why is he having a midlife crisis, we never get to know. He is separated from his wife, why? The movie never tells. Jeff takes his new dog and rents a dilapidated farmhouse, where he begins to repair himself and the dog with random interactions with the townsfolk.

The biggest problem this movie has is the absence of a backstory or any kind of satisfying resolution, yup this movie just ends. you never find out why the writer is depressed and angry like he is, or why he's separated from his wife (interestingly voiced by his Starman wife Karen Allen) We never get to know the back story of the dog or if anyone in this is stable at the end. Very frustrating. I will say that the dog actually acts like a real dog, a bored dog who's had zero training. Bridges is also useless with the training.