THEY WERE SUCH SWEET GERMAN SHEPARD dogs, yet the two of them were so different. If you pretended to throw a ball across the room, one of the dogs would immediately search the whole room looking for that ball. The other dog would remain seated in front of you, staring into your face as if saying, “Who do you think you’re fooling?” It was obvious this dog was the smarter of the two. Though the other dog may not have been as intelligent, she was more demonstrative with her feelings. Yes, that is right; she was an emotional dog. Whenever her owner would sneeze, no matter where she was at, she would take off and run as fast as she could to get to him. If he was seated, she would jump into his lap; if he was standing when he sneezed, she would stand on her hind legs and try to wrap her front legs around him, as if she were hugging him. It was a sight to see. The most reaction coming from the other dog would be a turn of ears in the direction of the sneeze, nothing more. I did not care if one was smarter and the other more affectionate; I loved each of them equally.      I HAVE A HARD TIME ACCEPTING those who say their pet is only a pet. To me, they are not; they are family. Those 2 dogs I mentioned were family members in that household. Having a pet is like having children; both need to be potty trained, must be disciplined at times and both will go through their terrible two’s phase. The only thing different is your pets never move out of the house. I have learned so much from pets. They practice unconditional love every single day. There is nothing like coming home from a long day at work, opening the front door and your dog is there, absolutely excited to see you. Those times when you are feeling down and your pet quietly comes up to sit on your lap or lie next to you, makes the sadness easier to handle. I had a pet dog who would listen to me while looking into my eyes, barely blinking. I was sure he could tell how I was feeling about something. So, I do have a hard time believing a person can stay emotionally detached from their pet. In fact, I would be curious to see what they have to say about the dog in this comedic drama.      WHILE HIS OWNER DENNY SWIFT, PLAYED by Milo Ventimiglia (Killing Season, This is Us-TV), was trying to win car races; Enzo was learning lessons about life that would help him when he would be needed most. Based on the bestselling book, this movie starred Amanda Seyfried (Dear John, Mama Mia! franchise) as Eve, Gary Cole (One Hour Photo, Under the Eiffel Tower) as Don Kitch, Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Anne with an E-TV, It Chapter Two) as Zoe and Kathy Baker (Return to Zero, Cold Mountain) as Trish. If you are dog lover, you will love this film. I thought the dog Enzo was wonderful. Milo on the other hand was no different with his acting than what he does on This is Us. He seemed to be the same character to me. I am positive the book must be an incredible read; but I have a feeling the story did not transfer well to the big screen. I have not read the book, yet I knew everything that was going to happen as the story unfolded. The script was riddled with clichés, besides being quite manipulative with the viewer’s emotions. In fact, with Enzo being as smart as he was; I am surprised he did not bolt out of this picture.

2 stars