IS HACHI A DOGS TALE GOOD ? MOVIE

He also learns from Ken, a Japanese professor friend, that the dog is a Japanese breed called an Akita, and that the Japanese character on the dog's collar tag is the number eight - 'hachi'. It is on one of those routine days going home that he finds at the Bedridge Station a puppy, who he eventually will learn was being shipped somewhere unknown, with the shipping tag lost. Several years earlier, Parker Wilson, who lives in Bedridge in suburban New York City, is a college music/performing arts professor, he who makes the train commute to/from the city every working day. The story is told in flashbacks as class assignment 'my hero' by Michael's teen son Robbie, who also gets an Akita puppy.Įleven year old Robbie is giving an oral class report on the topic of 'My Hero', his chosen subject, Hachi, who on the surface is an unusual choice. Hachi refuses to accept this, being moved to Michael's home as Cate moves out, waiting for a master who can never come home again, by now collectively adopted by sympathizing town-folk. Hachi makes a habit of waiting for his equally doting master at the station every evening, but after a cardiac crisis, Parker dies. Parker's Japanese college friend Ken inspires naming the pup Hachi(ko), and is pleasantly surprised when Parker successfully tackles the challenge to get it to fetch, which Akitas don't usually do. His bossy, jealous wife Cate initially makes Parker swear it won't stay, but by the time its' clear nobody will claim him and an adoption candidate is found, she agrees to keep the dog, who won over their daughter Andy and her fiance Michael at first sight. Kids will love the movie, and their parents might be equally enchanted.A college professor bonds with an abandoned dog he takes into his home.Ĭommuting by train, music professor Parker Wilson finds an Akita puppy, whose cage broke unnoticed during shipping, leaving his destination unknown, and since the station can't care for it and the dog catcher warns even such cute ones may not be adopted in the two weeks allowed, he kindly takes it home. The final moments of the film are absolutely devastating. The locale is skillfully rendered, and Hachi, played by three dogs as an adult and about 20 as a puppy, has definite star presence. Kaczmarek, an Oscar winner for “Finding Neverland,” enhances the poignancy. Those who know the legend will realize where the story is heading, but it plays out effectively because Hallstrom handles the tear-jerking moments discreetly. The townspeople all chip in to look after Hachi while he performs his daily ritual. Hallstrom does a good job creating a sense of community. Characterizations are fairly perfunctory, so it helps that Gere and Allen bring conviction and dignity to their portrayals. His wife, elegantly played by Joan Allen, objects at first to the dog’s presence but is quickly won over. He brings the dog home on a temporary basis, but it isn’t long before Hachi becomes a permanent member of his household.

Gere was one of the producers of the film, and it’s possible that his interest in Eastern philosophy gave him a strong connection to the story, which begins when he discovers an Akita puppy that has been abandoned at the train station where he commutes to work. Lindsey changed the setting to Rhode Island and updated the story but retained the basic idea of a loyal Akita who achieves an almost-transcendental bond with his owner, a music professor played by Richard Gere.

Lindsey’s screenplay is adapted from a Japanese film made 20 years ago, which itself was based on the well-known story from the 1930s about an Akita that came to the train station in Tokyo to wait for his master every day for 10 years after the man died.

IS HACHI A DOGS TALE GOOD ? MOVIE

The movie is no masterpiece, but it delivers.

At the Seattle International Film Festival, where the film recently received its North American premiere, sounds of sniffling permeated the large auditorium. Lasse Hallstrom’s “Hachiko: A Dog’s Story” might not match that film’s performance, but it seems certain to win an appreciative family audience. SEATTLE - Tear-jerkers about lovable dogs are almost always boxoffice winners as “Marley & Me” proved last year.

Is hachi a dogs tale good ?