How much of a sweet tooth do you have when it comes to movies? It’s a question you might want to consider before stepping out for “A Dog’s Way Home,” W. Bruce Cameron adaptation of his book about a dog who finds her way back to her owner across 400 miles of Colorado terrain, because this is one sugary concoction. Not that it’s ineffective — I dare even non dog-lovers not to get a little misty eyed at the inevitable conclusion — it’s just very, very, VERY earnest, like a PBS Kids morning show meets a cute puppy pics slideshow with much higher production value.
Bryce Dallas Howard provides the honeyed voice for the heroine, Bella, a stray who lives happily with some dogs and cats under an abandoned property until animal services snags about half (including her mom). She soon gets adopted by a kind college-aged kid across the street, Lucas (Jonah Hauer-King), who works at the VA and lives with his mom, a war vet who has depression, played by Ashley Judd.
Bella is a very cute pup who grows into a very cute dog with limited grammar and comprehension skills that never quite evolve past that of a 4-year-old. She also happens to be enemy No. 1 of the city of Denver after she falls on the wrong side of a ban on breeds designated as pit bulls, and impounds them on sight.
“I know, it’s stupid,” explains an employee at the animal shelter succinctly. Another character, Olivia, played by Alexandra Shipp of “Love, Simon,” describes it as “basically racism.” This movie really has it in for Denver’s Ordinance Sec. 8-55.
