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The Heirloom – A Dog and her Days

That’s right, a dog stars in some interesting movie, within a movie. Some sort of Inception cliche, I know, but let’s talk more about dogs first as one is the focus of this movie. As a child, I had a problem with dogs, and to this day dogs occasionally have problems with me. I nearly got bitten by one on a late night walk, and I know one dog keeps forgetting who I am often staring at me with most concerned look and tail wagging I’ve ever seen. Phoenix knows the dog as well, and she assured me I looked alright, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the dog thought I was suspicious. Probably because my signature outfit is a long coat and a fedora, so dogs must think that I’m Boris the Burglar. But not all dogs are quick to judge, and some of the good doggos have good judge of character. Lucky for me. Some dogs however gone through struggles and need to fully adjust to new life. I’m talking about rescues, the creatures who have been abandoned by or left to wander alone in the world. There is hope for them thanks to shelters, and even better for the owners who adapt these creatures to give them the happy life they deserve. I guess I’m getting into the movie now after barking about a whole lot of other info, so sit, stay, and read on.

Our film starts off with a couple, Eric (Ben Petrie) and Allie (Grace Glowicki). They seem to be enjoying life together as Eric works on a script of his first comedy while Allie looks back on childhood remembering family retreats and watching old tapes. One day Allie makes a plan to adapt a puppy but Eric is unsure at first which leads to something of an argument. After all, any kind of dog isn’t easy to take care of. I learned that from two books I read and a few episodes of Arthur. They finally settle on a rescue dog named Milly (Cheers), picking her up late at night from a white van in a parking lot. Yeah, that does sound kind of creepy. However, after that scene that could be misinterpreted, the couple learns to adjust to their new family member while taking things very slowly. The terms calm and settle rest in Eric’s mind for a long time and every time he thinks those words in that ominous voice it creeps me out, but the process of connecting with Milly is very relaxing. There is one problem though, and that is the fact that Milly hardly moves, and the couple wonder why even reaching out to a few professionals on the matter. Eventually, the couple copes with her interesting personality but Eric struggles to write his comedy script. Allie on the other hand, continues to watch tapes of her childhood and helps Eric to reconcile. That’s when Eric gets a great idea: to do a home movie on Milly instead of writing his comedy so he can balance work and life together. Allie is unsure of the idea, but Eric says it could a heirloom. I know, lots of people think home movies are easy, which they are, compared to the major stuff these days. Still there’s a lot of planning that goes into this particular home movie as they decide to shoot the backstory and at one point we are treated to a long unnecessary scene of Allie playing with a squeaky toy which annoyed me greatly and failed to be funny for me. They try to plan humorous stuff and it doesn’t even work. Even Eric sees that the movie isn’t working when he edits it and struggles with his vision on the film. Common director emotions and he goes through the same self-desecration he went through writing the comedy, with the same deep voice constantly saying things like ‘Bad’ and ‘Stupid’ or even ‘Dumbass’. It was starting to take its toll on me and then we learn more of Milly’s personal problems as she has an unnatural fear of a tree with CD’s hanging from it, and an attempted change of diet which leads to blood in vomit, followed by a stressful trip to the vet in the snow. Now all Eric and Allie can do is hope Milly will be alright, while dealing with their messed up relationship.

It’s not often I see films with minimal cast and crew, especially those of the home video variety, so this was a breath of something else. Plus, usually, the films we cover about dogs are always unique, but not like this. There was a lot of pretty emotional stuff in this movie, showing real couple struggles, and honestly I’ve never seen a dog movie like this. Most of them are forced happiness and minimal problems, but in this one we can really see how Milly struggles but also starts on her personal road to recovery. Not only that, but we see the struggles our couple goes through, much like real life struggles between real life couples. It’s got all the realism without forced mushy gushy love, but it still was messed up and some parts did make me uncomfortable. Not just the self-depecration moments but Milly’s struggles among other issues. Still the film provides a powerful message on how nobody said raising a dog is easy no matter what the status. Because like a lot of things in life, raising a dog and living together is all about compromise and priorities. 

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