Hachiko: A Dog's Story

'Hachiko: A Dog's Story' is based on a true story which can be traced back to Japan in the early 20th century. Hachiko was brought to Tokyo by Professor Hidesaburo Ueno. During his owners life Hachiko saw him off at the front door and greeted him at the end of the day near the Shiduya Station. The pair continued their routine until May 1925 when Professor Ueno did not return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting.

The story which is a true testament to loyalty and friendship between the dog and it's master will be well received by the legions of dog and pet owners around the world in this American remake. After 'Marley & Me' in 2008, it seems the studio is are eager to cash in on Marley's success with Hachiko. The big difference is that Marley traces the life and tribulations of a dog seen through the owner's perspective, and relates how Marley played an integral and slowly significant part in their everyday events. With Hachiko however the movie is faced with the prospect of expanding an account which occurred almost 90 years ago. As an audience I am already aware of the story which was comprehensively summarized in the opening paragraph. So how can the director fill in the gaps between the events that took place in order to create a full feature length film?

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. I got 3 of them at home, but at some point the director seemed out of ideas on how to develop the film beyond its original material. So he chose to drag the film with an incessant dose of Hachiko run, sit, wait and jumping at the sight of Richard Gere (who plays the professor and it takes 45 mins for him to finally die in the film). We get the idea that Hachiko is a special dog, but there is only so much cute heartwarming moments one can take before it starts to really bore the audience. It isn't a bad idea to make a film about dogs, but it IS a bad idea when the lead actor is the dog itself. In Marley, we at least have Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston to give us the character elements that a Labrador could not convey with barks and whines, which as an audience can relate with. In Hachiko however, the characters in the film seemed to be there to only verbalize the obvious such as "Hi Hachi" or "Oh his not coming back anymore!"

If the director wanted a faithful reenactment of Hachiko's story, it might have worked better had they made a documentary out of it. Without expanding on the characters around Hachiko, the film just did not have anything new to offer, nor did it have enough weight on its own to engage the audience in an intellectual and emotional platform. Which is probably why the studio chose not to release the film in theaters, instead opting to release it direct to DVDs. But hardcore dog lovers will probably still enjoy the film and even shed some tears with Hachiko.

Watch the official trailer below: