“A Dog’s Purpose” is a heartfelt movie, perfect for any dog lover. But, get the tissues handy; this movie is a tearjerker. The movie is based on the love a dog has for his human and the special connection shared.
In the movie, the dog starts out as Bailey and ultimately gets several more lives before reconnecting with his first owner years later.
Throughout the movie, Bailey will have several purposes for his life. The movie starts out as Bailey is rescued by eight-year-old Ethan and his mother. Ethan and Bailey hit it off instantly becoming inseparable; everywhere Ethan went, Bailey went. They often played with a deflated football that Bailey loved. As the years went on, Ethan started dating a young woman named Hannah, who developed a great relationship with Bailey. Bailey starts to slow down and doesn’t want to do anything and eventually passes due to his old age; however, Ethan was right by his side.
It is remarkable that even though he passed, in his next life he still remembered his first owner Ethan and the special bond they shared.
Over the years and throughout his lives, Bailey had several different owners. He was a police dog to a handler who initially had his guard up against Bailey. Bailey was shot in the line of duty trying to save his handler. After that, Bailey came back as a smaller dog and helped a shy college student find love. After living out that life, Bailey was back as a bigger dog breed.
But this new life was the hardest for me to watch. As Bailey was forced to stay chained up and never had any human interaction, I cried at thinking how people get dogs and treat them like nothing. Bailey was eventually dropped off at an industrial location.
My heart broke watching because no dog deserves that.
Although abandoned, Bailey finds a familiar place and scent that triggers powerful memories. The scent takes him to the farm where young Ethan grew up. Bailey finds a grown-up Ethan, and their friendship is rekindled. As Ethan does not realize the soul of his beloved Bailey is in this dog, he names his new companion Buddy. Ethan, Buddy learns, is sad and lonely, and wants to correct this. Buddy finds Hannah, Ethan’s high school girlfriend. They’re reunited and eventually wed.
While on the farm, Buddy finds the old deflated football in the shed and has Ethan throw it. As Buddy catches the ball, Ethan realizes the similarities between Bailey and Buddy.
To be sure he isn’t imagining things, he continues to throw the football and does so with a trick he and Bailey came up with. Buddy does the trick and Ethan realizes that Buddy is Bailey. This was the absolute best part of the movie when he realizes that after all those years of Bailey being gone, he was back as another dog, yet he remembered everything just like before.
Although the movie is emotional and a bit of a tearjerker, I would highly recommend it. A Dog’s Purpose is heartwarming and has its funny moments. My two-year-old loved the movie, so it is definitely a great movie for the entire family.
