A Dog's Purpose

Name: A Dog's Purpose
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, Family
Released: January 27, 2017
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 43

2017

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 143 Ratings

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6.3

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6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 143 Ratings

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A Dog's Purpose

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: January 27, 2017 | PG

Summary: Based on the beloved bestselling novel by W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog’s Purpose shares the soulful and surprising story of one devoted dog (voiced by Josh Gad) who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love.

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, Family

Rating: PG

Runtime: 100 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Gabe Hartwig

Jan 26, 2017

Anyone who has ever loved or said goodbye to a pet will be able to relate to this heartfelt story, adapted by Cathryn Michon from a best-selling novel by W. Bruce Cameron. Director Lasse Hallström uses real animals and limited CGI, so the actors’ interactions with the pets are believable. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Jan 26, 2017

All I can say is that A Dog’s Purpose left me cherishing my borderline-venerable Skeezix; longing to see Scamp and Fluff and Sukoshi and Sally, the dear departed dogs of my life; and wishing I could have been reincarnated as a better master than I was. Read full review

Alonso Duralde

Jan 24, 2017

A Dog’s Purpose offers many of the highlights of human-canine relations at their warmest and most affectionate, but the film chooses to skim on sun-dappled surfaces (Terry Stacey of “Elvis and Nixon” was the cinematographer) and sentimentality (Rachel Portman’s score bombards the heartstrings) when it might have gone deeper Read full review

The Playlist Will Ashton

Jan 26, 2017

A Dog’s Purpose is an awkward, graceless, meandering and unnecessarily cruel dog movie, and therefore a fairly meaningless one. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

Jan 26, 2017

It’s often cloying, absurdly melodramatic, and the premise exists largely as a tear-manufacturing device. Read full review

Peter Travers

Jan 27, 2017

A manipulative script about dog reincarnation that whacks your emotions like a piñata – that's forgivable. Not this. It shouldn't happen to a dog. Read full review

IndieWire Jude Dry

Jan 24, 2017

What is the meaning of life? Are we here for a reason? Is there a point to any of this? We may never know, but knowing this movie exists may bring some viewers one step closer to giving up on the whole damn thing. Read full review

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User Reviews

TheIcePhoenix

Apr 5, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My thoughts on the Movie A Dogs Purpose. One of the most heartfelt movies I've ever seen
Let me start by warning you this movie will probably make you cry if you ever owned a dog.
A Dog's Purpose is an outstanding movie about a dog's love for their Dogs Best Friend/Human. This movie visually shows many different ways that dogs are treated good/happy and unfortunately bad/sad . A Dog's Purpose does a superb job at building up heartfelt emotion in a short amount of time in many ways just like Marley and Me did. It is an absolute shame that this movie has be swept under the rug by many people because they believe everything they read on the internet and dont think/research things for themselves. The controversial videos show that "Hercules", the dog in the scene that particular scene went viral, was apparently being forced into the water. When in fact Hercules was chosen to do this scene because of his affinity to water. He was trained to jump in on the opposite side of the pool to what was shown in the video. After the trainer tried to calm him by allowing him test out the water and the dog still was spooked, they stopped attempting the scene from that side and waited for a while. There were multiple people in the water if something happened. There even a trained diver under the dog at all times. However, PETA and many other news organization's dont want to report this because it doesn't make news only drama does. I have had 4 dogs in my life, and I have always been interested small animal welfare and at one point even was preparing to try and become a small animal Veterinarian so I have heard about and seen many cases of animal abuse and a dog getting wet is not a form of abuse. The movie builds a human's love for their dog, and it really portrays how a dog is truly a man's best friend. If this movie wasn't boycotted, I honestly feel like it could have been a very beneficial movie to help gets more animals adopted from shelters and as such I feel that false accusations actually cause more harm for dogs then it helped and I mean this literally, as many people who may have been inspired to adopt a Dog because of this movie wont and thus cause those pups that could have been adopted by them and on the last stage will be put down. So what good did it do? false accusations by PETA and other people about cruelty actually caused a lot more.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Bri6986

Mar 5, 2017

The best mover ever - full stop. We are dog lovers, and have seen this movie in theatres multiple times. A job well done to everyone involved with the production!

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

Zephar

Jan 28, 2017

This movie is a fresh change the the usual remakes. The actors both human and dog were wonderful. The adaption from book to the big screen was one of the best I've seen. This is 100% not a movie that anyone should pass up seeing.

10 of 12 users found this helpful102

marcmyworks

Jun 21, 2017

This is a silly but beautiful film that is just nice for the sake of being nice. I did not realise how sappy I was until I watched it, and to be honest I really just enjoyed it.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

eagleeyeviking

Mar 17, 2017

While the script consistently prefers happy, feel-good moments over the grim reality of human life and some of these events feel forced and unearned, A Dog's Purpose is a heartfelt, emotional film that is perfect for families or anyone who owns a pet.

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

EpicLadySponge

Jan 27, 2017

Children will have no problem with A Dog's Purpose, but adults who have better things to do will just look at the screen with a bored face wondering when is this going to end. Adults in general should look for a film that's worth seeing. Great movie to place children while watching yourChildren will have no problem with A Dog's Purpose, but adults who have better things to do will just look at the screen with a bored face wondering when is this going to end. Adults in general should look for a film that's worth seeing. Great movie to place children while watching your average R-rated movie.… Expand

2 of 11 users found this helpful29

antoniofernando

Jan 28, 2017

Um filme que deveria tratar de algo tão sensível e sagrado como os cachorros, passando vergonha com uma polêmica envolvendo maus tratos a quem? Sim, aos cachorros. Vergonha total.

3 of 11 users found this helpful38

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