In Denver, puppy Bella (Bryce Dallas Howard) lives under a condemned house with her family and various stray cats. The evil dog catcher Chuck grabs her family. Lucas and his girlfriend Olivia find Bella. Lucas opposes the developer from demolishing the buildings without saving the cats. The evil developer hires evil Chuck to declare Bella as a pitbull threatening her with euthanasia. Lucas brings Bella to his work at the VA where she becomes a comfort animal to the troubled vets including Lucas' mom Terri (Ashley Judd). While trying to avoid Chuck, Lucas teaches Bella how to "Go Home". It doesn't work and Lucas is forced to send Bella away to Olivia's relative in New Mexico. Bella is confused and sets off to "Go Home".
It's a sweet movie. There are obvious tear jerking manipulation going on here. I'm perfectly fine with that. I like Lucas and I love the dog. The veterans aspect is really pulling on the heart strings. The journey has a lot of fun. At first, I was concerned about the cougar story. I did grow to like the companionship. It got too convenient with the reunion in the wolf attack. Sometimes, a character left behind is better off being left behind. The cougar does not need to make a return appearance. I would have preferred Bella to make the escape herself. After all, the first escape happened with the two campers. Why not let her engineer her own escape crossing a fallen a tree across the river? That was already set up from before and the wolves could fall off. Also the CGI of the wolves-cougar fight is far inferior. It looks very fake. The CGI animals are problematic anyways. Making CGI action is beyond this movie's capabilities. It's just more fun to steal grocery store roast chickens. That fight scene is the most problematic of the movie. The homeless guy is the next closest because I wanted a different resolution to his story. I have sympathy for the guy even if he chained up Bella. There is a way to save him if he meets up with one of the vets. Overall, it's rough at times, sweet at times, funny at times, and a touching melodrama in the good sense.
It's a sweet movie. There are obvious tear jerking manipulation going on here. I'm perfectly fine with that. I like Lucas and I love the dog. The veterans aspect is really pulling on the heart strings. The journey has a lot of fun. At first, I was concerned about the cougar story. I did grow to like the companionship. It got too convenient with the reunion in the wolf attack. Sometimes, a character left behind is better off being left behind. The cougar does not need to make a return appearance. I would have preferred Bella to make the escape herself. After all, the first escape happened with the two campers. Why not let her engineer her own escape crossing a fallen a tree across the river? That was already set up from before and the wolves could fall off. Also the CGI of the wolves-cougar fight is far inferior. It looks very fake. The CGI animals are problematic anyways. Making CGI action is beyond this movie's capabilities. It's just more fun to steal grocery store roast chickens. That fight scene is the most problematic of the movie. The homeless guy is the next closest because I wanted a different resolution to his story. I have sympathy for the guy even if he chained up Bella. There is a way to save him if he meets up with one of the vets. Overall, it's rough at times, sweet at times, funny at times, and a touching melodrama in the good sense.