Red Dog

Everyone will want – but no one can have – Red Dog. It's one of the most beautiful things about him. And that kind of exclusivity is priceless.

This is the Australian Cattle dog that makes Lassie look lame and Rin Tin Tin look like an obedient idiot.

That's because Red Dog is a dog for the soul.

A new movie called Red Dog is the true story of a wandering pooch that brought people together and joy to a community. He exhibited ferocious, inspiring independence and fearless loyalty to freedom. This dog made Che Guevara look like he didn't give it his best shot.

He had the best qualities of every living creature while still sticking it to the man. No one owned Red Dog – until he met a man and gave himself to that one man.

In real life, all this took place in North West Western Australia at a town called Dampier during the 1970s. There's even a statue erected in honour of Red Dog who had a reputation for sniffing out a party 600 kms away and turning up. He seduced and intimidated people into giving him free rides all over the country and, as legend has it, hitched a ride on a tanker to Japan for a spell too.

This dog was so clever, he even sorted free veterinarian care for himself – kind of like scamming a fake medicare card.

I laughed a lot during the movie and cried 3 times. And after seeing the sale of spotty puppies go up after 101 Dalmatians and the sale of Clown fish go up after Finding Nemo, I expect the demand for Australian cattle dogs to go up too. But I hope it doesn't because they are working dogs, not city dogs and apartment living would be like a prison for these very active and intelligent canines.

The film is out August 4 and stars Josh Lucas, Rachael Taylor, Noah Taylor along with one of the last performances by Bill Hunter. But the most kudos has to go to director Kriv Stenders (Lucky Country, Boxing Day, The Illustrated Family Doctor) for shooting a beautiful film in a stunning location while keeping the story elevated to the mythic status Red Dog attained.

Koko is the name of the real dog who plays Red Dog – you can see his audition tape with Kriv at the end of this review. And producer Nelson Woss was so taken with Koko, he adopted him. There's a wonderful tradition of this in cinema. Johnny Depp adopted a one-eyed horse after a shoot when he learned the horse was going to be put down. And Viggo Mortensen kept the horse he worked with in Hidalgo.

The Australian Cattle dog has been a bit of movie star for a while now. One worked with Mel Gibson in Mad Max, Johnny Depp co-starred with another in Secret Window, Billy Connolly paired up with one in The Man Who Sued God and Russell Crowe shared the screen with one in The Silver Stallion. A few had lesser roles in movies such as Babe and Brokeback Mountain.

Famous people who have owned Aussie Cattle dogs include Owen Wilson, Kelly McGillis and Matthew McConaughey.

And for truly extraordinary stories of Australian Cattle dogs pulling off miraculous feats – look up Sophie in Queensland. She swam 5kms through shark-infested waters then lived alone on an island for 5 months before being rescued and re-united with her family. Another one called Ben in South Australia became the primary witness in solving the murder of his owners – neighbours reported that the dog didn't bark at all that day - alerting police to the fact that the killer was known to the victims and to the dog.

But back to the movie. I won't say too much other than – go see it. We haven't had a film like this in Australia for some time. You'll want to see it again. And I reckon the world will go nuts for the movie, nuts for Australian cattle dogs and nuts for touring the Pilbara.

The soundtrack rocks too with lots of good ol' Aussie 70s classics.

Red Dog is a movie with heart starring a dog that's good for your soul.

** I'm co-hosting the episode of Movie Juice with Koko – the star of Red Dog – which screens Monday August 8 at 6pm on Starpics channel 415 and 8pm on Starpics 2.

I skipped "Red Dog" in Berlin... I don't like "dog" pictures...

BIG MISTAKE !

Fortunately, I had a chance to see it at Vail Film Festival, where it ran away with the "Audience Favorite" and it blew me away... it is a completely endearing tale of an isolated mining town in the far northwest of Australia, the bizarre characters that wash up there, and the unstoppable human drive to create community wherever we gather. And yes, the dog that inspires them to focus on what matters in themselves and in life. The characters, and in this town, everybody is one or they wouldn't BE there, are original, surprising, and compelling. And the landscape that holds them is truly other-worldy.

There is not one sappy minute in this film... but many genuinely hilarious ones, and quite a few touching ones. In it's emotional impact, it somehow reminds me of "the Blind Side", in all the best ways. Between the cineplex, on demand, and 2-3 film festivals, I see roughly 150-200 films a year. This is easily among the 2-3 best I've seen this year...some distributor is going to hit a home-run with this one.

I was lucky enough to see this movie in Western Australia.....the home of Red Dog. More than that, my West Australian wife grew up in Dampier and remembers a period of four or five days, where Red Dog decided to grace her family home with his presence...enjoying the steak dinners provided by my Father in Law. He then decided it was time to go, and moved on to another family. This is only one account of Red Dog, his story legendary, but no less true for that! This movie is a very uplifting true story, not only of Red Dog, but of a small community living on the 'frontier.' In an extremely harsh environment, Red Dog brought the community together. The movie conveys very well what it was like to live in Dampier in the '70s. The movie has some very sad and moving episodes, but also some real 'laugh out loud' moments. In the end, rather than feeling sad, I felt it was a celebration of a very special animal. The movie was so good, I ALMOST awarded a score of 10/10...pity I can't award 9.5/10.

I saw this movie 25 May 2011 as part of Cinefestoz in Busselton, Western Australia and it is AWESOME! It has to be one of the best family movies that I have seen - and as far as animal movies - tops. Yes, digitalized graphics for a few sections but no, the dog doesn't talk, he doesn't dance and he doesn't do anything that a dog shouldn't do. Koko the dog has expressions that would make some actors look wooden. He steals your heart. The landscapes of the northwest show the expanse of the area, whilst capturing the spirit of the 'settlers' of Dampier, which is a real town. It's a wild country and the stubby shorts the blokes are wearing are so 1970's I wonder where they got them all. Josh Lucas is oh so gorgeous, and so is Rachel Taylor, and the 'real characters' maybe cliché, but you know what, it doesn't matter because it makes the movie even more real and enjoyable.

We laughed, we cried, we laughed, we cried and were moved by a story that crosses time and age and is based on a true story. Thank you for bringing it to us.

I am a dog lover and just absolutely loved this movie. It made me laugh and it made it me cry (a lot). I was literally sobbing in one section.

Overall, it is just a lovely simple story that has a heart. The fact that it's based on true events makes it all the more powerful.

While the story centred on characters, what I love is that someone the actors don't overshadow the dog - he is the star and remains the star throughout the movie. I think seeing a movie, almost through a dog's eyes, makes this even more special.

Was is it a perfectly scripted and acted movie? Perhaps, not but all I know was that I was entertained from the minute it started to the minute it ended and I walked away feeling touched. Sometimes, that's all a movie should do.

I think everyone can take something from this movie.

I'll be sure to watch this again on DVD, it really does touch you.