This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

It is a performances centric movie

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Jerry (Jesse Bernstein) is a troubled young man who has become involved with gang activity. But, although he is headed in the wrong direction, a caring parole officer, Tom (Maxwell Caulfield) sees some good hiding in his interior. He arranges for Jerry to train dogs with his beautiful daughter, Susan (Alaina Kalanj) as part of his parole requirements. At first, Jerry is most reluctant and his commitment is tenuous. However, due to the extreme kindness of Tom and Susan, he begins to turn his life around. In fact, there may be a mutual attraction between Jerry and Susan, if only she weren't nearly engaged to that stuffed-shirt, go-getter John (Sean Foley). Will Jerry become a model citizen and win Susan's heart, too? This is a nice film with plenty of feel-good moments, except for the inane ending. What is that, you ask? I'm not telling. Caulfield and Bernstein give nice performances, although Bernstein is not my idea of a genuine leading man. But, it is Kalanj that steals the film. She is utterly beautiful and has a zesty, natural acting ability that reminds the viewer of Marisa Tomei. The movie world can only hope to see much more of her. Then, too, although she dresses down to train dogs, her "dress-up" costumes are of the knock-out variety. The rest of the costuming is acceptable and the scenery is pleasant, too. Best of all, the dogs in the film are delightful. If you love animals and/or romantic dramas, try this one on for size. I think you will like it but the end will definitely leave you shaking your head.

This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The makers of this film try to drill their message about altruism into one's head repeatedly. The acting was poor, the editing was poor, and above all the writing was sub-standard. I have seen grade B horror movies that were more intelligently made. At first I thought the message was going to be subtle, then they kept repeating what they had to say over and over. There is a scene at the end where the dead fiancée magically comes back to the church for his wedding. I still do not know why anyone would desire to have a wedding when their fiancée was dead. The first half of the movie was fairly standard, just bad acting, then after the movie appeared to be over a few times they kept extending the storyline in preposterous ways. I would advise all to avoid this film. It is not even bad enough to be humorous.

This one is worth watching for three reasons. 1) Its unseemly idealism 2) Alaina Kalanj, 3) dogs.The movie is unrealistic about the world at large hence it tries to show an ideal world, but as a spoiler warning it does have some hard reality about life in two instances in the film. They both come suddenly and their unpolished nature creates a kind of brutal reality that real life throws at us. I suggest you watch it for yourself and comment here on it. Alaina Kalanj acts without acting. She is a natural. It is uncanny. She was a kindred spirit to the dogs which if she did act that way well then she is very good at it, and if she didn't then she is proof of the film's message. I can see her in certain roles, and I would cast her.The wedding scene at first struck me as nonsense, but later I can see a person going through with it, and to keep an open mind that one may perceive a moment in a way that no one else does is worth considering. Our minds are truly capable of having these magical moments gain reality in life.

This could have become a funny and good movie, but it flips totally out repeatedly towards the end until you get angry with the filmmakers for believing that audiences consist of complete morons. It cannot even serve as a wet ladies' weeper. It cannot be called a children's movie because there are no children in the cast. It's probably called a "family movie" because there is no nakedness or language abusive to children, but the plot is certainly abusive to the intellect of grown-ups. The simplified portrait of the drug buddies and their miraculous turn-around is just a start. Or perhaps one cannot expect more from a story told by a dog...