by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $12.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Indy the dog, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, Stuart Rudin, Anya Krawcheck
Intro:
… a superb concept for a stellar short film that doesn’t quite sustain itself as a feature …
Most everyone likes dogs, even those who don’t own one. Conceptually, the canine is just so wholesome. It’s a creature that offers unconditional affection, constantly revels in the sheer joy of being alive and sometimes tries to root your leg. What’s not to love? Dogs have long been a mainstay of cinema too, with a lot of people asking, “Does the dog die?” before they choose to watch a prospective flick. However, rarely has a dog been the star of a film (other than children’s movies and animation) and even rarer is the entertainment offering purely from the dog’s perspective. Good Boy seeks to address this omission, telling a genre tale through the eyes of a humble hound and while it’s a laudable experiment it doesn’t entirely work.
Good Boy is the story of Indy, a gorgeous Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who is completely devoted to his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen). The problem is, Todd isn’t well and after a nasty bout with cancer he takes Indy to a cabin in the woods that belonged to his grandfather (Larry Fessenden). Things take a turn for the spooky in the forest, however, and Indy begins to realise that something is very wrong with his human, and he needs to save the bloke. But what can a dog do against some unknowable evil and who will scratch his belly if Todd succumbs to the forces manifesting against him?
First and foremost, Good Boy has a great gimmick. The idea of a story told completely through the eyes of a dog is a great one and first time feature director Ben Leonberg gets a lot of things right. Most of the action is shot from lower to the ground to get an idea of the dog’s POV, we rarely get a good look at the faces of humans, rather focusing on the details that a dog would logically be drawn to. There’s also, obviously, very little dialogue in general and none from our canine superstar. The problem is, after about 20 minutes of lots of clever little moments and unique set-ups, the film doesn’t seem to know where to go. So, it repeats much of what you’ve already seen and then starts to get a little lost in the weeds. At a slender 73 minutes, Good Boy feels far heftier because of the repetitive nature of the story and the lack of a cohesive sense of escalation.
Good Boy is not a bad boy, mind you. Indy is terrific as himself (and the director’s real life dog, no less) and the barely glimpsed human cast do a lot to add to the proceedings, particularly the always welcome Larry Fessenden. The horror moments, especially in the first half, are quite well executed, although the third act tries to get a little too allegorical for its own good. The ending is genuinely heartbreaking, even if it might put horror purists off-side, but the trek to get there is a little muddled.
Good Boy is a superb concept for a stellar short film that doesn’t quite sustain itself as a feature and could have used a bit more meat on the bone. It’s not a dog’s dinner, mind you, and there’s clever stuff here, but walking the script around the block a few more times would have made this project a lot more… fetching.
