Film: A Dog's Journey

Today was back to film again - and I was intrigued by one that's come up in ratings. A Dog's Journey turns out to be the sequel to A Dog's Purpose, which was on telly some months back - that covered the story of a dog living multiple lives, but ultimately coming back to his original owner, now grown up into Dennis Quaid. And which I found touching. The sequel has the same, reincarnated dog looking after the granddaughter, as she moves away. Also on Amazon Prime.

Didn't take long for there to be another gap in decent programmes! so I got it watched early. Now, by the end of the last film, Dennis Quaid (ably assisted by his dog) had rekindled a relationship with an old flame, who had a son by now. By the time of the sequel, they've married - except she's now played by Marg Helgenberger, which works fine; certainly, it rings true to me. Years have passed and they're a lot older. Her son, tragically, has been killed in a car accident, leaving a young widow and little daughter. The widow is chafing against single motherhood, craves her old life, and isn't a terribly good mother. When her mother-in-law tries to help, she thinks she's trying to take the child, and leaves with her. The dog's life is ending - as he lies dying, Dennis whispers to him to take care of their granddaughter. In his reincarnations. Again, he's voiced by Josh Gad.

Now, I found this even weepier than the last - but that might be because I missed bits of the last, which I was watching while doing something else. Honestly, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to shed a tear - and not only because the doggie dies so many times! Delighted to hear Josh Gad's voice back again - he's perfect for it. Another truly heartwarming tale with plenty of humour as the dog, in various incarnations, vets her friends and acquaintances, not holding back with his opinion. And as she is reunited with her grandparents at the end, everything comes full circle. All good dogs go to heaven, they say - and heaven, appropriately, is a huge, grassy meadow, where the dog can race around to his heart's content. Ah, the perfect weepie for a dog lover..

Well, I'm taking this week off again - need to use up those days. And yes, thinking film tomorrow - and next up on Amazon Prime (and also risen in ratings) is Remember, where Christopher Plummer is an Auschwitz survivor who makes it his mission to wreak vengeance on the person responsible for his family's deaths.