Mill Creek Entertainment gave us the opportunity to review Life with Dog. It will be available on June 4th at Walmart stores! That's today! So in honor of it's release, I'm writing up a good old fashioned review for you on this faith-based movie.
Joe Bigler has lost his wife in a terrible accident. One that he's pretty sure was not accidental. He's a grumpy old man. He's a man that attended church on behalf of his wife when she was alive. However, the loss of first his son and subsequently his wife have left him completely broken. He tried praying to save his son. He tried praying to save his wife. Now, he's given up on praying. And he's considering giving up on life.
Hi daughter Zoe can't reach him. And she needs him. She's lost her own husband to abandonment and is raising her son alone. Her pastor tries to help her dad and can't either. Even repeated flashbacks from his wife isn't changing the fact that grief is eating him alive.
And then he meets "Dog." Yes! That's what he calls him. He's an ugly mutt who looks as homeless as he acts. But something about Dog resonates with ol' Joe, and the connection between reluctant man and mellow dog begins.
You can watch a trailer for the movie by clicking here.
This movie is unrated, and I wanted to let my kids watch it with me. However, after previewing it, I was unable to recommend it for children -- especially children the age of my kids (11 and under.) In addition, I thought about sharing it with my cousin's family who homeschools with me. And again, I couldn't even in good faith recommend it for the 13 and 12 year olds.
The reason is that the content is deep. It's life, but it's deep, and I really don't want my kids being presented with this kind of unnecessary grief. You see a woman die. You see a husband so overcome with grief that he can't function.
I know this is life stuff. Grief is normal stuff. But I just don't want to present this to my children.
Teenagers could handle it, but their was just too much grief in it for me to share it with my kids. And while the movie is entertaining and well-acted for a faith-based film, I found the length of dialogue to be a bit boring. I enjoyed it, and the head actor is very good, but his soliloquies were a bit too long for me.
Life with Dog had the "quality" of a good Hallmark film. And it has a lot to teach about love and the help of a good pet and faith, however, in general it wasn't one of my favorites.
So my opinion: I think renting it to watch as a simple, chill night at home, is not a bad idea at all. In addition, I just don't think a movie like this not being friendly for children works well. Movies with a dog mean that kiddos want to be able to watch.
You can read more about Mill Creek Entertainment and their movie Life with Dog by visiting them at one of their social media outlets:
The movie is available at Walmart for $11.99. You can also buy or rent (or buy) it on Amazon! I encourage you to check out some of the reviews by my fellow crew members by clicking on the link below:
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