Dakota

Thought there was a reasonable story lurking somewhere in here. A less wooden cast and better production values could've made for a good film. But sadly it was very much B territory. Tim Rozon, so good in Wynonna Earp, was disappointing. Abbie Cornish has done better work, Lola Sultan did well. The dog was definitely the star!

I really don't understand why this lovely film got so many bad reviews. I haven't seen such a beautiful family movie in ages. I'm sick and tired of boring dystopian movies, brutal thrillers and road movies. There's just too much of that lately.

So this was like a fresh breeze to me.

Please make more such dog movies.

Except of William Baldwin I didn't recognize any of the other actors, but was impressed with Abbie Cornish and Tim Rozan.

The young actress who played Alex was great, too.

But the dog was the best in the cast.

I was wondering if the dog got trained by Teresa Ann Miller, but her name did not show up in the end credits.

There really is very little redeeming that can be said about the movie other than the dog is a beautiful specimen of a Belgian Melanos. The script is rubbish, the acting is subpar, the plot is ridiculous... a complete waste of time.

Filled with cliches, a stupid plot, bad acting, bad dialogue... high school drama students could do 100c better than this and still fail with an F because this deserves a zero rating or less. Thankfully it was free but even then, I felt gipped out of time I will bever get back and anyone that watches it probably feels dumber for the effort they put in.

This thing is worse that a straight to video release, it is straight to the dumpster or landfill.

The reason I am rating this so high is because it was a true family film like I grew up on in the 90s. Films appropriate for the whole family are nearly impossible to find anymore. If it weren't for appreciating the family aspect so much, I'd agree with some other reviews. So much doesn't add up in this film and really requires the viewer to suspend belief. It is clearly low budget, with a small cast but that isn't its biggest flaw. The mom is instantly starry eyed over her new visitor while the daughter is still completely wrecked over the loss of her dad. The family is about to lose the farm despite Grandpa (who can afford to play golf) having given it to them as a wedding gift. What was the gift, a hefty mortgage? Why are they going to lose it? The caring grandpa isn't going to help? The town is depicted to be a very small town of maybe 400, yet they have a mall. The mom goes into the daughter's room one night to look for her and stands with her back to the bed for a bit, very slowly turns to the empty bed, and finally slowly turns to the wide open window that was obvious upon arrival. While her daughter is still missing, she goes on with other business. The brilliant dog gets captured by some nitwits on the other side of a bush and can't be heard barking by the family. There are constant moments like this in the film that are outrageously unbelievable...just wait until the final scene 😳.

However, where this film deserves the high rating from me is on the basis of family friendliness. No controversial morals, no language, no intimacy, some slightly suspenseful scenes if you have a sensitive/very young viewer but nothing very intense. I did actually tear up at this movie a few times despite the issues with it. All in all, it was an enjoyable way to spend a bit of time with my 7 year old. If a cinema masterpiece is what you're after, this isn't it. If a whole family movie is what you're after, give it a watch!

This is a poor film, having watched 'Dog' and 'Ruby' recently I thought this would be in the ball park. Wrong. Predictable, weak characters, poor story, and sickly sweet. The dog was good though, that's why it got three instead of two. I like dogs so I'm not going to say the dog was rubbish. Watch Ruby instead, far better film.