Cast: Dennis Quaid, Britt Robertson, Josh Gad, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Peggy Lipton Director: Lasse Hallström Genre: Comedy, drama Running time: 120 minutes Showing: Century Cinemax Acacia Mall, Cinema Magic, Naalya, Numax Cinema, Entebbe
It is said that a dog is a man’s best friend and Ethan cannot agree more. He got Bailey when he was a boy and they sailed through happy and sad times. Bailey was not your ordinary dog. When Ethan and his mother discover him in some shelter he had turned into his kennel, he is a bit sad and lonely. Bailey becomes devoted and while doing so finds meaning in his own life.
Their friendship leads them to playgrounds where they enjoy chasing a deflated ball. Soon Ethan is of age and goes on to chase a dream at college as a soccer player where he spots a beautiful girl called Hannah. He falls in love but does not lose touch with his friend Bailey.
Meanwhile, things are not in order at home with repeated disagreement between his parents. One night Ethan finds his mother crying after being beaten hard by his father, who had returned home drunk.
Son chases father out of the home for good but more trouble is on the way. One of Ethan’s classmates sets their house on fire, almost killing him and his mother. Bailey is only in time to wake them so that they can escape but as Ethan jumps out of the window to save his life, he fractures his leg, reducing him to pain and ending his soccer career and stopping short a scholarship opportunity he was eager to take up.
His alternative is to join agricultural school. He is sad and blue and calls it quits with girlfriend Hannah. Around the same time Bailey is struggling for his life and soon dies, further turning Ethan into an emotional wreck.
But that is not the end of Bailey. He reincarnates into another dog life and takes on life with full recollection. This time he is a female German Shepherd K-9 named Ellie.
The movie is based on a 2010 novel by the same name written by American humour author, Bruce Cameron, who has written other fictional books such as 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter and How to Remodel a Man.