Good Boy

I loved it. It's a unique movie, and Indy (dog) deserves an Oscar for acting so well in this movie.

I closed my eyes and drifted off a few times during some events that happen in this film. These events happen a lot and it gets repetitive but also allows you to wake up at the crescendo and then continue to watch the dog do stuff. It's a cool dog. The first time the dog whined my dog was very interested in what was going on. By the end of the movie she didn't care at all. We were on the same page.

Maybe if you’re a dog lover you might get more from this. I’m not, so was frankly fairly unimpressed with this cabin in the woods style of spook-fest. It is told with a few overlapping timelines, but quickly we can deduce that “Todd” (Shane Jensen) - whose face we hardly see throughout this seventy minuter - is not a well man. He has moved to his late grandfathers’s rustic home with his loyal dog “Indy” but before long it is the dog that has it’s sixth sense alerted to some seemingly quite malevolent goings-on. Stuck on their own, though, what chance either man or mutt can survive what appears to be something distinctly evil lingering around them? It has it’s moments, but moments are all they are as this really thin story quite literally pads along, slowly, without very much happening. For some reason, this place in the middle of nowhere has what appears to be an industrial-sized graveyard to add to the haunting mystery, but a dodgy generator, a storm and some crackling twigs don’t really get any hairs standing up any more, except maybe on the carpet. To be fair to the dog, it could have been trained by the legendary Rudd Weatherwax and it does all of the heavy barking but otherwise this all a bit of a non-story.

Beautiful main character, and he is already on high alert. We've been teased with a back story, and hopefully, we get more info as to what is triggering our good boy's senses. There is some strangeness going on, and our hooman is willfully blind or just plain ignorant of what it is that dogs do and are capable of. I loved the non-human STAR of this film, I hope to see him in more films in the future, as he has a great presence.

It has long been speculated (and widely believed) that animals possess special powers to sense things that we, as humans, generally cannot. This is particularly true of canines, and that belief is thought to contribute significantly to the loyal and protective bond that exists between us and dogs, the basis of their so-called designation as “man’s best friend.” That notion is now brought to life in writer-director Ben Leonberg’s debut feature, a smart horror offering that will melt your heart while giving viewers more than a few good scares along the way. When lovable pup Indy and his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), move to a rural home, the insightful pooch quickly discovers that he and his master live in a haunted house, one that’s overrun by supernatural forces. Indy is quick to catch on that’s something’s amiss, thanks to his glimpses of spectral visions while awake and in his dreams. He does his level-best to warn Todd, but the language barrier obviously makes this difficult. Consequently, Indy attempts to protect his master despite ever-growing threats to their safety and well-being, as well as Todd’s mysteriously steadily worsening health. In some respects, “Good Boy” may seem like it’s rooted in a classic horror flick narrative, but I classify it as a smart horror offering thanks to its efforts to do something more with the story, in this case, a new spin, told from a different perspective, than what one typically finds in films from its root genre. The filmmaker also keeps the material fresh by using a variety of camera angles, featuring truly distinctive cinematography and editing techniques, efforts that helped the picture earn a well-deserved Independent Spirit Award nomination for best film editing, a rarity for movies of this type. The director also knew enough to keep this release from overstaying its welcome, coming in at an economical 1:13:00 runtime, long enough to successfully hold audience interest without belaboring its material or resorting to the inclusion of needless padding to stretch out the length. And, of course, there’s the star of the show, Indy, the positively adorable heroic four-legged protagonist who comes across like Lassie with a more personable, more lovable personality. Indy’s “performance” is truly impressive, too (even if it took the filmmaker four years to capture enough suitable footage to make the picture work, but kudos for his patience in working with a canine actor). As I’ve made clear on numerous previous occasions, I’m not an especially huge fan of horror movies, either because they’re boring, unoriginal and/or needlessly gratuitous. However, I’m becoming a true devotee of smart horror offerings like this, pictures that make a concerted effort to overcome those aforementioned shortcomings and give viewers watches that are genuinely more substantive and worthwhile. And what better way to accomplish that goal than by including a cute little tail-wagger? A movie like that is almost certain to get my vote, as this one most certainly does.

GOOD BOY is a testament to the unshakable, pure loyalty that defines the relationship with our most faithful friends. I've always held a special place in my heart for films that explore the unique bond between humans and their pets, so the premise of a horror movie seen through a dog's eyes immediately piqued my curiosity. There's something inherently terrifying about watching a dog stare into an empty corner of a room, and director Ben Leonberg captures that dread perfectly through expert use of shadows, light, and negative space. It's a remarkably well-shot indie flick that avoids cheap jump scares in favor of a slow-burn, atmospheric build-up. Indy, the canine lead, is absolutely the soul of the experience; he's a "good boy" in every sense, delivering an incredibly expressive performance through his posture and those enchanting eyes. I can only imagine the patience and skill required to center a production around a dog, and the lack of CGI or fake animals makes the entire ordeal feel grounded and sensorial. GOOD BOY eventually begins to lose its initial momentum, as the repetitive nature of the scenes and a relatively thin narrative start to show. The story surrounding the house's supernatural elements feels underdeveloped, and the deep ambiguity doesn't always mesh well with the more traditional haunted house tropes. There's a persistent feeling that this might have functioned better as a tight short film, as the lack of dialogue and some rather distracting ADR work prevent it from reaching a more compelling level of character depth. Despite these shortcomings, I'm still impressed by the movie's commitment to simplicity and its lean runtime. At its core, this is a story about the silent, protective nature of our animal companions that any dog lover will find deeply moving. Rating: B-