My Life as a Dog

Name: My Life as a Dog
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: May 1, 1987
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 82
Cast: Anki Lidén, Anton Glanzelius, Christina Carlwind, Ing-Marie Carlsson, Kicki Rundgren

1987

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Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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My Life As A Dog: Stories To Tell

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Movie Details & Credits

Skouras Pictures | Release Date: May 1, 1987 | Unrated

Starring: Anki Lidén, Anton Glanzelius, Christina Carlwind, Ing-Marie Carlsson, Kicki Rundgren, Leif Ericson, Lennart Hjulström, Melinda Kinnaman, Ralph Carlsson, Tomas von Brömssen

Summary: A boy and his brother don't get along well. In order to let their ill mother rest, they're separated and sent each one with their relatives.

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 101 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Staff (Not Credited)

An exquisite look at childhood, based loosely on Reidar Jonsson's 1983 novel about a rural-provincial 12-year-old equivalent of J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield Read full review

100

Hal Lipper

The particular genius of My Life As a Dog is its ability to capture the joy, fear and fantasy that make pre-adolescence so beguiling. [18 Sept 1987, p.3D]

100

David Ansen

Wonderful...Based on an autobiographical novel by Reidar Jonsson, My Life as a Dog captures the manic mood swings of a turbulent prepubescence with deft tonal swings of its own: under its sweet, puppy-dog surface, this movie has teeth. [25 May 1987, p.72]

Christine Arnold

My Life as a Dog is sad. And sweet. And sublimely funny. It shouldn't be missed. [11 Feb 1987, p.D8]

David Sterritt

Splendidly acted, and directed with touches of visual poetry by Lasse Hallstr"om, but a little heavy on trite sexual-awakening scenes. Read full review

Glenn Heath, Jr.

My Life as a Dog and its sublime vision of childhood will always be there to remind us of the filmmaker Hallström once was, and potentially could be again. Read full review

Hal Hinson

The movie has some beautifully observed moments and a generous spirit, but in the end, it's undone by its own sweetness and charm....It's just not distinctive enough to sustain your interest. A lot of the movie is routine coming-of-age stuff. Read full review

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User Reviews

alejandro970

Aug 20, 2022

Based on a biographical book, it is a look at the changes from childhood to puberty, with all the difficulties, joys and bittersweet moments typical of the moment. As a curiosity, it is well worth the effort.

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ahmedaiman1999

Apr 18, 2020

My Life as a Dog, a catchy title that obviously inspired the 2016 film, My Life as a Courgette, which is probably my favourite stop-motion animation film, and which also another film that deals with themes of adolescence, and offers a portrait of childhood with its pains and consolations.My Life as a Dog, a catchy title that obviously inspired the 2016 film, My Life as a Courgette, which is probably my favourite stop-motion animation film, and which also another film that deals with themes of adolescence, and offers a portrait of childhood with its pains and consolations. What makes My Life as a Dog stand out as a coming-of-age story is how its protagonist, Ingemar, ponders over his sorrows, and how he ignores that he is a child in the first place. He desperately tries to find consolation in convincing himself his misfortunes pale in comparison to others', but ends up blaming himself and his childhood naivety.

Shorn of its childhood aspect, this is a story about giving in to one's whims; about wasting the best moments of our lives; about feeling regret and guilt; and about how grief can mature us. I admit that the plot is a bit disorganized, there are moments that feel others familiar, and the pacing is a bit clunky. But, besides Cinema Paradiso, I don't think there's any film I've seen so far that gave me such evocative feels. These kind of movies that make you wallow in nostalgia as you watch them, no matter the experiences their characters go through are familiar to you or not.

(8.5/10)… Expand

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DawdlingPoet

Nov 24, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a relatively pleasant nostalgic watch centering on a young boy called Ingemar. Its quite amusing at times, with some of the main characters relatives being, shall I say, a little eccentric in their own ways. It definitely highlights childhood innocence, certainly at the start. I liked the artistic performers that appear at times, including a man on a unicycle, on a high wire. Its a film that I imagine slightly older kids and adults may both find amusing and entertaining. I liked the soft lighting featured, giving it that extra feel of nostalgia. There are some instances of nudity and mild sex references but its nothing too explicit or graphic, hence the PG rating. I suppose thematically at most its perhaps about a young boy's first encounters, or curiosities, about sexuality and general curiosities about life and death but its not really a steamy sexual film as such, more a fairly mild film about a boy coming to feel the start of his impending adolescence at most, I suppose.

I thought this film had a healthy charm to it generally and I quite enjoyed it, so I'd recommend it on that basis.… Expand

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