46/40
It follows a story of love, friendship, grief, and healing about a writer who adopts a Great Dane who was a late friend and mentor of hers. While most authors don’t like the way their books are being adapted into films, Sigrid Nunez has stated that she is happy with how her book is being presented in this film adaptation. Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11, 2024 (First Viewing) Format: Regular Theater The story doesn’t know where it’s going, so most of the time it just keeps going and it seems like it will never end, and here comes the part where the viewer can feel the long and cumbersome running time, which isn’t long, but it feels like it because of the slow and sometimes boring pace of the story. The dog is definitely the best part of the film. The way he was trained to show these emotions and tell something with his body language is really impressive. I really didn’t like the way the story approached Bill Murray’s character, as it seemed very useless. The movie to me is more like a story about a dog and a grieving man, rather than about a suicidal writer who died and left a dog behind. In that respect, it seemed very chaotic and could have easily delved into this topic or shown a flashback that supported Bill Murray’s character. Other than that, nothing special, but overall a cute and warm movie to watch!
