Red Dog (2011)

Tom (Luke Ford) arrives at a remote bar to find a bunch of men trying to euthanize a dog. They can't and Jack Collins (Noah Taylor) recounts the story of the dog. In 1971, Jack picks up the dog in the middle of the road. His bad-smelling farts force them to put the dog in the open trailer. By the time they arrive in the mining town of Dampier, the dog is covered with red dust gaining the name Red Dog. He has no owner and hitches rides by simply sitting in the middle of the road. He is more a member of the community of brash miners. New bus driver John Grant (Josh Lucas) is intrigued and becomes his friend. New secretary Nancy Grey (Rachael Taylor) pushes her way to sit in his seat on the bus. John and Nancy become a couple. When John dies riding his bike, Red Dog travels the world looking for his friend.

This is one of those doggy movies. It could have been better to fully embrace the genre. It certainly has some wacky comedy fun. I care a lot less about Josh Lucas. The movie should follow only Red Dog and his various adventures. Jack keeps going back to the animal hospital and that sequence is pretty fun. Red Dog looking for John is really touching. This movie should be Benji with some dirtier jokes. I also don't like starting the movie in the future with the euthanasia. It's an awkward attempt at a joke and that happens a few times in this movie.

Fmovies: I was a bit weary of seeing Red Dog as I'm not always a fan of Australian movies. However I was asked to go and I never turn down a chance to go to the cinema's. I really enjoyed Red Dog. It had quite a lot of good humour, with it's fair share of terrible jokes. There was a lot of emotion packed into the film, that almost felt a bit rushed at bits. It would take you to one end of the spectrum to the other without so much as a warning. Although the film was enjoyable I feel like it is a film that would only appeal to Australian's as there was a lot of slang and jokes that only Aussie's would get, but I could be wrong. Overall I gave it an 8 out of 10 purely because Red Dog is just an awesome character! Go and give Red Dog a go, you just might enjoy it!

I was lucky to see this film at the Australian Film Festival at the Barbican in London. It sounded like a heart wrencher - and it was! OK, so the performances can tend towards the clichéd or perhaps wooden and the story is a little slow in spots BUT I loved it. A really touching film, shot beautifully with some great Aussie scenery! A world that few get to experience. And Koko is amazing as Red Dog! I haven't read Louis de Bernieres story that is based on, or even heard of the "folk tale" that the movie is based on, but the story is compelling. Oh, and some great Aussie music forms the soundtrack. And of course a bit of crazy Aussie dancing (and fashion) that goes along with it!

Red Dog fmovies. Today's GV surprise screening wasn't what I had expected, and I mean that in a good way. At first I thought it was going to be one of those rom-coms slated for screening later this month or year, but what got put out was way, way better than expected, even though it started a little slow and bewildering (unlike most other surprise screenings where one can guess what it will be), Red Dog was more than worth the price of the discounted ticket, an Australian film set in the 70s Western Australia in a small mining town based upon a folklore that surpasses almost every conventional dog related cinematic tale put out especially by Hollywood in recent years.

A trucker drives into town and pit stops at a bar, only to find a couple of burly men pining a dog down, with the sheriff about to pull the trigger, but for the trucker's intervention to put off their plan. Slowly but surely for any stranger riding into a new land, the townsfolk soon grow in numbers, as everyone started to pour in to the bar to seemingly pay tribute to the dog, christened Red Dog by everyone, with the narrative unveiling itself in episodic flashback nature with characters taking turns to tell their version and stories of how the dog impacted their lives and the lives of the mining town, and how the town got changed through their canine friend. These stories span a spectrum of emotions, and can be a simple, short scene, or an extended one especially when involving the principal characters of the film

Directed by Kriv Stenders, the film has its fair share of quirky characters and comedic situations, being funny without really trying too hard, go over the top or feeling too contrived. Everything felt as natural as can be, with excellent pacing to allow Red Dog to slowly grow on you. The tried, tested and tired route Hollywood typically takes is to load plenty of saccharine sweet, cutesy moments to deliberate tug at your heartstrings, which is why this Australian film is that fantastic breath of fresh air as it busts genre conventions, yet possessing enough pathos to lift the film into its emotional plateau, pulling you into the rowdy though genuinely sincere lifestyle the miners lead.

As for star power, Josh Lucas stars as the wanderer turned bus driver John who becomes the one and only de-facto owner of Red Dog as they form a loyal master-dog relationship, with Rachael Taylor (of Transformers fame) playing Nancy his love interest whom he met while serving the community, and she getting into a tussle with Red Dog on his bus. Their romance will form the crux which the story will revolve around briefly, although there are other stories which I enjoyed such as how Red Dog got into assisting an Italian miner Vanno (Arthur Angel) go after a nurse (Keisha Castle-Hughes), and a heart-wrenching moment involving the themes of loyalty and longing.

With an awesome soundtrack and beautifully filmed landscapes that captures the conditions of the mining town in very picturesque language, you'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll be moved by the time the movie pulls into its final reel. Now all that remains is for this film to find a proper theatrical release so that it can be watched, experienced and loved by a wider audience that it truly deserves. There may be famous dogs like Lassie in the US and Hachiko in Japan, so do add one to that list with Red Dog from Australia. Definitely in my highly recommended list as it goes into my books with the potential of being one of the best seen in this year, leaving its genre peers clearly in i

Everyone will want – but no one can have – Red Dog. It's one of the most beautiful things about him. And that kind of exclusivity is priceless.

This is the Australian Cattle dog that makes Lassie look lame and Rin Tin Tin look like an obedient idiot.

That's because Red Dog is a dog for the soul.

A new movie called Red Dog is the true story of a wandering pooch that brought people together and joy to a community. He exhibited ferocious, inspiring independence and fearless loyalty to freedom. This dog made Che Guevara look like he didn't give it his best shot.

He had the best qualities of every living creature while still sticking it to the man. No one owned Red Dog – until he met a man and gave himself to that one man.

In real life, all this took place in North West Western Australia at a town called Dampier during the 1970s. There's even a statue erected in honour of Red Dog who had a reputation for sniffing out a party 600 kms away and turning up. He seduced and intimidated people into giving him free rides all over the country and, as legend has it, hitched a ride on a tanker to Japan for a spell too.

This dog was so clever, he even sorted free veterinarian care for himself – kind of like scamming a fake medicare card.

I laughed a lot during the movie and cried 3 times. And after seeing the sale of spotty puppies go up after 101 Dalmatians and the sale of Clown fish go up after Finding Nemo, I expect the demand for Australian cattle dogs to go up too. But I hope it doesn't because they are working dogs, not city dogs and apartment living would be like a prison for these very active and intelligent canines.

The film is out August 4 and stars Josh Lucas, Rachael Taylor, Noah Taylor along with one of the last performances by Bill Hunter. But the most kudos has to go to director Kriv Stenders (Lucky Country, Boxing Day, The Illustrated Family Doctor) for shooting a beautiful film in a stunning location while keeping the story elevated to the mythic status Red Dog attained.

Koko is the name of the real dog who plays Red Dog – you can see his audition tape with Kriv at the end of this review. And producer Nelson Woss was so taken with Koko, he adopted him. There's a wonderful tradition of this in cinema. Johnny Depp adopted a one-eyed horse after a shoot when he learned the horse was going to be put down. And Viggo Mortensen kept the horse he worked with in Hidalgo.

The Australian Cattle dog has been a bit of movie star for a while now. One worked with Mel Gibson in Mad Max, Johnny Depp co-starred with another in Secret Window, Billy Connolly paired up with one in The Man Who Sued God and Russell Crowe shared the screen with one in The Silver Stallion. A few had lesser roles in movies such as Babe and Brokeback Mountain.

Famous people who have owned Aussie Cattle dogs include Owen Wilson, Kelly McGillis and Matthew McConaughey.

And for truly extraordinary stories of Australian Cattle dogs pulling off miraculous feats – look up Sophie in Queensland. She swam 5kms through shark-infested waters then lived alone on an island for 5 months before being rescued and re-united with her family. Another one called Ben in South Australia became the primary witness in solving the murder of his owners – neighbours reported that the dog didn't bark at all that day - alerting police to the fact that the killer was known to the victims and to the dog.

But back to the movie. I won't say too much

I saw this movie 25 May 2011 as part of Cinefestoz in Busselton, Western Australia and it is AWESOME! It has to be one of the best family movies that I have seen - and as far as animal movies - tops. Yes, digitalized graphics for a few sections but no, the dog doesn't talk, he doesn't dance and he doesn't do anything that a dog shouldn't do. Koko the dog has expressions that would make some actors look wooden. He steals your heart. The landscapes of the northwest show the expanse of the area, whilst capturing the spirit of the 'settlers' of Dampier, which is a real town. It's a wild country and the stubby shorts the blokes are wearing are so 1970's I wonder where they got them all. Josh Lucas is oh so gorgeous, and so is Rachel Taylor, and the 'real characters' maybe cliché, but you know what, it doesn't matter because it makes the movie even more real and enjoyable.

We laughed, we cried, we laughed, we cried and were moved by a story that crosses time and age and is based on a true story. Thank you for bringing it to us.