HACHI: A DOG'S TALE - 9/10 (A-)

What a beautiful story! I'll admit I'm a sucker for movies like this, but even people who aren't won't be able to resist it. It's a new classic of the genre and a real shame it wasn't given a theatrical release in the US.

One of the very few films of last year that got me closest to crying. Gere is a perfect fit for his role.

B+

Heartbreaking movie. Better than Marley & Me. This film deserved a theatrical release. Gere is very good and Roemer is as well. Gere is a good, underrated actor. He was very good in Brooklyn's Finest as well. And Roemer needs to do more movies. After Disturbia I expected her to become bigger but it hasn't happened. Her only upcoming project is a TV pilot titled "The Event" about a man (Jason Ritter) caught up in a conspiracy to assassinate the President. She plays his girlfriend.

B+



Hachiko: A Dog’s Story marks Lasse Hallströms return to the directing chair since 2006’s The Hoax. The three-times Oscar nominated director tackles on a re-telling of the story already told us by the Japanese film Hachi-ko. I deliberately use the word re-telling because both are just based on the same true story but while the 1987 film stays rather faithful, Hallström’s film changes the setting and also the time period during which the movie takes place.

The true story that the films are based on involves a Japanese professor in the 1920s whose Akita dog Hachiko who brought its master to the train station each morning and greeted him each evening at the station when he returned. After a couple of years, the owner suffered a stroke, while gone, and died. Hachiko, however, continued its routine and kept vigil waiting for its master for almost a decade every evening at the train station. The film’s setting has been changed from Japan to Rhode Island and it takes place in contemporary time. As far as the rest is concerned it mostly stays close to the truth.

By the description of the plot it is obvious that Hallström clearly aimed for a tearjerker here. In fact, he mostly succeeded. I’m sure that many tissues will be spent watching this film if my screening is anything to judge by. This movie has its heart in place and during its second half constantly tugs at your heart strings. It’s a movie about the bond between man and dog that goes beyond death. It’s a film about loyalty and friendship and in that respect in succeeds more than last year’s Marley and Me. It’s a more truthfully emotional journey and the greatness of the dog is better conveyed here.

The Hoax’ Richard Gere plays the professor in this film but it’s not him who’s the leading character of the movie. This film’s subtitle, A Dog’s Story, is a purposeful one. The whole movie happens from Hachiko’s point of view. In several scenes that’s literal as we see the environment directly through the dog’s black-and-white vision. That stylistic method as well as a few others (look for the director’s tool to convey the years passing by!) also separate the film from traditional Hollywood fare. Hachiko is the true star here and he certainly delivers. I dare anyone to say that they did not melt at the cuteness of little Hachiko and didn’t feel for him during his long and futile wait. It’s him whom all of our emotions belong here and for a dog that’s not bad at all and it’s more than I can say about (the still decent) Marley and Me.

However, don’t get me wrong. Hachiko: A Dog’s Story is still a very slight film. Its message, while an emotional one, doesn’t have much depth to it. It is a good re-telling of a true emotional story but it doesn’t add much to what real life hasn’t already delivered. It never takes flight. The characters are hardly developed here. Richard Gere and Joan Allen are decent but they are not given much to work with. In fact, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa probably delivers the film’s best (human) turn despite his limited screen-time. As I said above the film’s main focus is really the dog but you can only do this much and go this deep with an animal as your main character. Moreover the whole story feels a bit too idealized with everyone at the train station taking care of Hachiko and loving him which is a somewhat different approach than the one that the Japanese film took (in which Hachiko is sometimes perceived as annoying). One of the big problems is also that there’s simply not much material to work with to extend this story into 90 minutes so that there are a few dragging spots as well. What we’re left with is an emotional and well-directed but also very simple film. It’s a must-see for any dogs fan but I think anyone who appreciates a heartwarming and sad story should enjoy this to some extent. It’s certainly better than most similar films of its kind.

In it's own unique way, Hachi: A Dog's Tale adds a very fitting bookend (or more accurately and hopefully bookmiddle) to Lasse Hallström's career which took off in North America with My Life As A Dog (which ironically is not really about a dog, but touches on the same depth of emotions).

It's the most purely emotionally uplifting film I've seen in a dog's age.


♡ out of 5.