HACHIKO: A DOG'S STORY is based on a 1987 Japanese movie, which in turn is based on a true story that took place in Tokyo in the 1920s: a professor found and adopted a dog, which was so faithful it always sat at the local train station, waiting for its master to come home from work. The dog kept on waiting even after the death of the professor, and when Hachiko the dog passed away, a bronze statue of him was erected at that train station.
In Hallström's movie, the dog's still Japanese; in the beginning of the film, he's sent from Japan to the States, but the tag with the address falls off and the little puppy is skipping around at an idyllic train station in an idyllic town. Music professor Richard Gere finds the dog and takes it home, ignoring his wife Joan Allen's protests. The dog is named Hachi and he's very clever and very faithful, and yes, everyday, he walks to the train station to await Richard Gere coming home.
At the station, Hachi befriends the people working there and nearby; the butcher, the nice hot dog vendor, the woman in the book shop and her cat, and the man who's selling tickets to the train. The latter is played by Jason Alexander (from THE BURNING) of all people. He doesn't have very much to do in this movie and I sat there waiting for him to introduce himself as Art Vanderlay and claiming he works with import and export.
Richard Gere has a beautiful daughter who marries a nice young man and the daughter gets pregnant, and since we already know the story behind the movie, we known that Gere is about to die all of a sudden (Hachi is so clever he knows what day!), which he does, so that the dog can keep on walking to the train station and wait - for ten years.
Some people will call this movie "heartwarming". And one of my colleagues, a woman in her 60s, and who was sitting behind me at the press screening, was sobbing every now and then. And I heard more people sobbing in the theatre. I may sound like a cold-hearted son of a bitch, but I found this movie rather ... silly. Because it's so calculating: a cute and clever dog with big eyes, Richard Gere (who's the co-producer), total idyll, friendship beyond death, and sugar coated piano music. One weird thing about HACHIKO is that I've never heard of it before. Lasse Hallström's movies are usually announced several months in advance, like the upcoming DEAR JOHN. But in this case, things get stranger:
HACHIKO is produced by Stage 6, a company I believe belongs to Sony. Stage 6 usually produces movies like PISTOL WHIPPED with Steven Seagal, THE SHEPHERD with Van Damme, and DVD sequels like BOOGEYMAN 3 and VACANCY 2. HACHIKO is shot in regular 16X9 ratio and the cinematography is rather restrained. It's a small movie which feels adapted for a small format. And as a matter of fact: much to Hallström's disappointment, and despite starring Richard Gere, HACHIKO will go straight to DVD in the U.S.A. in March 2010, retitled HACHI: A DOG'S TALE. I guess the only reason this movie opened theatrically in Sweden, is because of Hallström. It was, however, a theatrical success in Japan and a few other countries.
Although a movie about a dog, this sure is no new MY LIFE AS A DOG. HACHIKO feels like an old, anonymous TV movie from the 1970s. I've no idea what audience will appreciate Hallström's run of the mill and banal, albeit sympathetic and well-acted movie. Besides older women. And maybe young girls who love animals.
The most interesting thing about HACHIKO: A DOG'S STORY is that old B-movie villain Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa plays and old friend of Richard Gere's.
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