“Way to go, Boss Dog!”

From A Dog’s Journey.

After being reunited with his person is boy eaten several dog lives later, Bailey (voiced by Josh Gad) is happy to be part of the family that includes Ethan (Dennis Quaid) and his wife, Hannah (Marg Helgenderger), as well as Gloria (Betty Gilpin), the widow of Hannah’s son, and her young daughter, CJ (Emma Volk).  Young and feeling wronged by the world, Gloria decides to take CJ away from her grandparents when they offer to watch her so Gloria can pursue her career; knowing the truth about Bailey and desperate to protect CJ, Ethan tasks Bailey with CJ’s protection in his next life.  When Bailey finds CJ (Abby Ryder Fortson) a few years later, he becomes her protector, helper, and friend in her alcoholic mother’s frequent absence.  Through the adoption of a litter-mate of his, Bailey is also able to befriend Trent (Ian Chen) who’s always willing to help CJ out.  As CJ grows older, Bailey is there for her through all kinds of hardships including fights with her mother and dangerous boyfriends (Jake Manley).  In Bailey’s next life, he only has a brief interaction with CJ (Kathryn Prescott), but it’s enough to remind him of his goal.  When he comes back a third time, Bailey finds CJ in New York City struggling to get her musical career off the ground.  Bailey also finds Trent (Henry Lau) living in the city, who still offers the same support and friendship as always to CJ.  Through all of his lives, CJ is unaware of just how special Bailey is and how far he’ll go to protect and bring her home; life never quite goes how CJ expected, but with the help of a special dog, the journey goes just as it supposed to.

This sequel to 2017’s A Dog’s Purpose is filled to the brim with the same laughter and heartbreaking emotion as the original.  The cast is honest and endearing, but Gad perfectly brings to life the film’s main character/narrator.  Some scenes are fairly intense, but as long as viewers bring some tissues (especially animal lovers), A Dog’s Journey is not to be missed.

| Rated: PG | Running Time: 108 minutes |Genre: drama/fantasy/movie adaptation |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 0 of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 1 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|