I believe this movie was to have a message if redemption, forgiveness and so on. I was quite distracted by the music which often made me feel throughout the movie, that something really significant was about to happen, but it didn't ever seem to for some reason. Even at the pivotal moments when I was waiting for everything to come together, things didn't feel significant for me. The dog, though adorable, distracted and confused me. At first, his mouth looked like he had blood all around it. He later looked more or less intermittently dirty. As the movie progressed, I expected a greater revelation about why he showed up. I guess his purpose was to bring owner and protagonist together for their moment. Somehow, the dog's presence seemed anti-climatic and I felt the story, unresolved ...Perhaps, this is part of the message, that humans do have a difficult time with forgiveness..that as hard as we try, we still struggle to do our part when God does His so well. (I surely have found that to be true). I guess I wanted more closure..Why did the dog never bark? What was it about the dog that won over the protagonist as they didn't really interact or share much affection. The protagonists never seems to learn from his bouts of anger, even though he had no bullets in the gun. He was painfully difficult to like. By the end, I'd hoped I would like him more, but the conversation at the end with the young man helped a little. I'd have hoped that the older man would impart greater wisdom in the younger in letting him see where being out of control could ruin his life. The protagonist never really deeply reflected in his role in the incident. It was only while in jail that he was willing to be accountable, but to only himself, but even that, not really. He placed all the blame on the young man..I enjoyed the movie, just the same.
Review of Life with Dog
