Film has terrible CGI but you will still probably cry

Howard’s storybook intonations are often at odds with the dark turns of fate that befall Bella, lending the film a somewhat conflicted tone.

A DOG’S WAY HOME Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Ashley Judd, Jonah HauerKing Director: Charles Martin Smith Running time: 96 mins Rating: PG ★★ 1⁄2

This canine-in-peril drama struggles to strike a tonal balance between schmaltz and trauma, yet gains some entertainment value from the undeniable appeal of its title character.

A Dog’s Way Home isn’t a sequel to 2017’s controversial (yet successful) A Dog’s Purpose, but like that film, it is based on a book by W. Bruce Cameron with a name actor — in this case Bryce Dallas Howard — voicing the thoughts of a dog.

This isn’t a sequel to Purpose, although one is coming this year called A Dog’s Journey but there’s no need to be confused. These are very basic films that exist to anthropomorphise dogs in a manner comforting to dog lovers, and exploit the inherent sympathy that such portrayals engender. It’s crass but occasionally effective.

The plot here concerns a pit bull named Bella, who is rescued as a puppy by the heavily-dimpled Lucas (Jonah Hauer-King) and becomes his devoted companion. When Bella is targeted by the dog-catcher for being a pit bull, an illegal breed in Denver, she is shipped off to a farm while Lucas and his mother, a combat veteran played by Ashley Judd, look for a new place to live.

Before Lucas can pick her up, Bella escapes and attempts to make the 640km journey home herself, a journey during which she will perform an avalanche rescue, get attacked by a pack of wolves, and find time to raise an orphaned cougar cub made of terrible CGI.

Howard’s storybook intonations are often at odds with the dark turns of fate that befall Bella, lending the film a somewhat conflicted tone.

The storytelling is the opposite of subtle and the special effects are terrible but, still . . . who doesn’t love dogs, right?