22/33
A story of love, friendship, heartbreak, and healing about a writer who adopts a Great Dane who belongs to a deceased friend and mentor. While most authors don’t like the way their books are adapted for the screen, Sigrid Nunez said she was happy with how her book was presented in this adaptation. Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11, 2024 (First screening) Format: Regular Theater The story doesn’t know which direction it’s going, so it mostly just goes on and on, giving the impression that it never ends, and here’s the part where the viewer will feel the length and gravity of its run, which isn’t even long, but it seems so 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 reveal those emotions and use his body language to say something is very impressive. I didn’t really like how the story got too close to Bill Murray’s character because it felt very unnecessary. To me, the film feels more like a story between a dog and a grieving person than a story about a suicidal writer who died and left a dog behind. In that regard, it feels very chaotic and could have easily explored the subject or shown a flashback that would have supported Bill Murray’s character. Other than that, nothing special, but overall a cute and warm film to watch!