Dogs provokes ugly-crying
This year, in the deepest recesses of winter, I discovered a heartbreak I’d actively avoided for decades.
It’s easy to dismiss the notion that a pet can get under your skin – but after nine years, our nuclear family was torn apart by the decision all good pet owners must face, as we had to farewell our beloved Pat the Cat.
It’s a lingering pain any owner will ultimately be confronted with, and the aching gulf it leaves behind is a testament to how these little furballs get under your skin.
It’s a reminder of the strength of that shared bond that left me ugly-crying while watching new Netflix doco series, Dogs.
While packed to the gills with good boys, Dogs is much more than a cute six-part series.
Developed by producer Glen Zipper, whose own life was changed by a stray, this remarkable dogumentary is more than a fluffy take on pooches. It ends up being a deeper-than-you’d-expect series highlighting global social issues.
Its pinnacle is its second episode, focusing on a Syrian refugee living in Berlin, trying to get his poochy pal Zeus out of war-torn Syria. Never stooping to mawkish manipulation, this does much to spotlight the issues, but never loses focus of the man-dog relationship. And Zeus’ potential border crossing is one of the most singularly tense pieces of telly this year.
Blessed with unfussy camera work, Dogs casts its net over other social concerns as well – such as Corinne, a kid who needs a service dog to help her with epilepsy.
It’s also wise enough to present some of the downsides – such as the schism in Corinne’s family after being told the dog can’t – and won’t – be a family pet if Corinne is to try to live a normal life.
Presented with panache and pooches in equal measure, Dogs is a delight.
The work of US service dogs is also the meat of Pick Of the
Litter (in cinemas now). While nowhere as deep as
Dogs, it certainly has the ‘‘aww’’ factor as you follow five wouldbe pups through training, and the impact they’ll have on others’ lives.
At the other end of the spectrum, Tom Cruise continues to offer his services to the action genre with the smallscreen release of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which is still utterly thrilling in its execution.