(25, January, 2023)
This article is about;
・A Dog’s Purpose, a famous canine movie released in 2017, which is a heartful love story.
・You can check out Film Information, Trailer video, Plot, my review and photos of cute doggies.
・For English learners, it is highly recommended in terms of Listening Training.
１．Prologue
I have watched a famous film, A Dog’s Purpose(2017) by Lasse Hallström, who directed another canine movie Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, which featured a famous Japanese dog named Hachikō. Mostly in canine movies, doggies will pass away in the finale, but this film is a little bit different; they are reborn.
They will get another life repeatedly and continue searching for the purpose of their lives.
This article will bring you the following information; Film Information, Trailer video, Plot, my review and photos of cute doggies. A Dog’s Purpose is highly recommended for English learners to do the listening training.
２．Film information of A Dog’s Purpose
| Title | A Dog’s Purpose |
| Genre | Psychological comedy-drama adventure film |
| Country | United States |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Release | 2017 |
| Director | Lasse Hallström |
| Starring | Britt Robertson KJ Apa John Ortiz Dennis Quaid |
| Distributor | Universal Pictures |
| Based on | A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron |
Reference: Wikipedia, A Dog’s Purpose
・Trailer video
Here is a trailer video of A Dog’s Purpose. Just watching this short video can make you cry. Doggies are so cute.
Video Title: A Dog’s Purpose – Official Trailer (HD)
YouTube Channel: Universal Pictures
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jLOOCADTGs
・Rough plot of the film
Story is about a dog’s rebirth to find the meaning of life, living together with humans. Doggie’s mind is narrated.
Beginning with a puppy, which is euthanized at tender age, it is reborn as a Red Retriever. He is caught and raised by a boy named Ethan, who gives the dog name Bailey. They are always together and share experiences while they grow up. Everything goes well with Ethan’s life until a trouble happens before entering University. Ethan left home, separated away from Bailey. Soon after that, he said eternal goodbye to his loved pet.
The dog is reborn and its next life is as a female canine police, German Shepherd named Ellie. One day, she catches a kidnapper, while protecting her master from being shot. Soon after that, she passes away.
Next life is as male Corgi, Tino. A college student Maya raises Tino. She is not good at making friends in school, but gradually, she opens mind thanks to Tino’s help. The lovely dog leads a life together with the master happily.
In the last rebirth, a St. Bernard/Australian Shepherd mix dog’s life evolves. He is abused and thrown away by masters. Finally, he finds the place to go…
This film presents the deep mental relationship between humans and dogs. A highly recommendable love drama that everyone must watch.
・4 dogs in the film
Here are fascinating cute doggies that appear in A Dog’s Purpose.
(1)Red Retriever, Bailey
A boy Ethan raises Bailey with all of his love.
(2)Female canine police, German Shepherd, Ellie
Ellie saves her master from criminal.
(3)Tino, a male Corgi
Tino spends his life with a shy student Maya.
(4)Buddy, St. Bernard/Australian Shepherd mix
Buddy is abused by his master, but he finds a place to go…
・Thoughts and review after watching｜4 star among 5
As mentioned in the beginning, in most dog movies, doggies will pass away in the end, which is too sad and will make you cry; I don’t like that. However, A Dog’s Purpose is a little bit different. Dogs are reborn, so the sadness is lightened that you can keep watching positively. I also like this movie as the story is happy ending. There are many reviews to highly praise this film as a beautiful love story. My review is also high; 4 star among 5.
A Dog’s Purpose is also recommendable for English learners as listening training material. For the detail, go to the next chapter.
３．A Dog’s Purpose is recommended for English learning & listening training
In this film, dog’s mind is narrated. The narrative is spoken in clear & plain American English, which is good for listening training. So A Dog’s Purpose is recommended for those who are learning English as a second language. Sceneries are casual and simple; Family talks, Student talks and Business conversation, that can be good materials for the learners as the film evolves with daily conversation by native English speakers. Mostly, actors speak clearly, so it is good material for English listening for learners like me; can be recommended for all levels from beginners, intermediate to advanced (In TOEIC score from 600 to 800 over).
I will watch it again regularly to check the improvement of my listening ability.
４．Epilogue
This article brought you information about the film, A Dog’s Purpose.
・Story wise, it is a good canine movie; dogs will pass away but they are reborn to live another life, so you can watch it less sadly.
・English learning wise, it is a good material for clear & plain American English listening. Recommendable for all levels of learners.
This love story continues with A Dog’s Journey(2019), but my recommendation is definitely this first one, A Dog’s Purpose. Many subscription services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, supply this film, so it will be easy for you to find how to watch this film. In my case, I am Japanese by the way, I watched it on TV with Japanese subtitles.
I am working on English learning mainly with Tadoku(reading a lot of books) method, while watching the movie like this sometimes to check my English listening comprehension. For intermediate English learners like me, A Dog’s Purpose is highly recommendable.
→Back to Chapter 2 for Film Information
Fin.
