Great cinema is often based around a great idea. There are some who will tell you that Good Boy has a great idea at the heart of it - a ghost movie from the POV of a dog. I would argue that the idea isn't strong enough to sustain the relatively short runtime (it comes in at just over the 70-minute mark). In fact, it feels a bit too oddly unimaginative now that we have, for better or worse, seen a haunted house movie presented to us from the POV of the main spirit. Everyone else seems to have fallen in love with Good Boy though, which I think just shows how easily we can so often be won over by a cute dog.
Indy plays Indy, the canine protagonist here (and, yes, I am biting my tongue to stop myself from over-using the phrases "lead actor" and "lead performance). Indy spends a lot of time alongside Todd (Shane Jensen). Todd isn't well, and a move to an isolated house in the middle of some woods doesn't look as if it will help him to make any miraculous recovery. It does allow Indy to start noticing a ghost or two though.
Directed and co-written by Ben Leonberg (with Alex Cannon also helping on the screenplay), Good Boy has one major positive. That's Indy. A wonderful and expressive star, helped in his transition into acting by the fact that he is, in fact, Leonberg's dog.
Look, let me be clear in emphasising that I am not actually a cold-hearted deadite. Okay, sometimes I am, but not all the time. And I'm an animal lover (more of a dog person, but I've also had cats at one point in my life). So I was really looking forward to Good Boy, especially after hearing such glowing praise for it from people who had already seen it at one or two film festivals. It's just not great though, sadly, and doesn't do enough with that great idea at the heart of it. I suspect that some people may have had their viewing experience slightly rose-tinted by that festival audience viewing experience, but there's also a good chance that I'm just very much in the minority this time around.
Leonberg creates some good atmosphere, helped by an interesting score from Sam Boase-Miller, but he ultimately doesn't do much more. I'd also argue that the focus staying on the dog is the only reason to avoid thinking about how bad his owner is when it comes to making logical decisions. There are small reveals of a backstory here and there, but nothing to add enough of interest in between the different scares that feel as if they've been crafted without caring about how the whole narrative ultimately fits together. Leonberg has stated that the filming took place across 400 days spread throughout 3 years, which doesn't surprise me. Good Boy may be made by someone with the best intentions, and one very good boy, but you can feel the stop and start nature of the filming throughout.
There are individual moments to admire here, and I also admire the fact that Leonberg actually got the film made, but the end result if a bit of a disappointment. It's something a bit different, I'll give it that, but somewhere between the idea and the execution things went slightly amiss. And I'm not just saying that because they refused to use my tagline that said "his bark is worse than his fright".
4/10
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