Article contributed by Victoria Hock
Director: Stephen Herek
Writer: Nick Santora
Cast: Rob Lowe, Johnny Berchtold, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Nick Peine
For many people, it’s easy to enjoy watching dog movies. After all, they feature a protagonist that’s easy to root for in the form of a dog, and the movie often chronicles the dog’s heartwarming bond with another person or family. “Dog Gone”, adding another dog movie into the mix, follows this formula, and on the most part does well.
Based on a true story, “Dog Gone” chronicles the story of Fielding Marshall (Johnny Berchtold), a college student who decides in his senior year to get a dog after seeing his ex-girlfriend dating someone else, despite his friend Nate’s (Nick Peine) advice that he was not making a good decision. Fielding decides to get a dog anyway, names him Gonker, and the pair instantly become best friends. When Fielding’s parents (Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams-Paisley) and sister (Savannah Bruffey) stop for a visit before he graduates, they too meet Gonker, and initially have a similar reaction to his friend. They feel he made a poor decision. However, they eventually decide to allow him to bring the dog home following graduation, and seemingly form a bond with him too.
One day, Gonker goes missing while he and Fielding are walking the Appalachian Trail with Nate, the same friend from college who initially encouraged him not to get Gonker. He rushes home in a panic to tell his parents the news. The next day, together with his dad, Fielding sets out on the Appalachian Trail in a race against time to find Gonker before he needs his next dose of medication, and to repair their broken relationship. While they do this, Fielding’s mom stays at home and works to track any possible sightings and contact places like animal shelters to find out if they’ve seen Gonker, or in hopes that they’d be willing to help with the search.
Beyond the search for Gonker, this movie packs a lot in overall. There’s the father-and-son relationship repairing between Fielding and his dad, Gonker’s medical issues, Fielding’s medical issues, which are gradually revealed throughout the film, and even flashbacks to his mother’s childhood.
Each of the actors did a fine job overall. As Fielding, Berchtold did an excellent job of portraying a person who had a clear bond with his dog—this relationship is what helped make the movie heartwarming. Lowe did a great job as Fielding’s dad, John Marshall, with a few particularly well-done monologues about why he cares so much about his son’s future. Fielding’s mom Ginny Marshall, played by Williams-Paisley, did a good job of portraying her role with depth, which seems to be aided by the flashbacks to her childhood, which chronicled the relationship that she had with her dog, and how her parents felt about said dog. As Nate, Peine played a supportive friend quite well, that also had a few moments of comedy.
The flashbacks, despite bringing depth to Williams-Paisley’s character overall, did feel a little random and even disjointed at times. Perhaps one more between the first and second one would have helped add more to her story.
Another area of the film I felt could have used more was the father-son relationship between Fielding and John. I recognise that they were attempting to repair their relationship on the Appalachian Trail, but even at the end of the film I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth in their father-son relationship.
I did find it heartwarming to see how many people joined in the search for Gonker. It seemed like almost everyone they gave a flyer to or that his mom contacted was willing to help with the search in some way. It was easy to tell that the people helping in some way with the search genuinely wanted to make sure Gonker was found safe, before he needed his next dose of medication.
Overall, despite a few concerns, this is still a good film overall. Those who go in expecting a heartwarming story primarily about the relationship a boy has with his dog will likely be quite pleased.
