A Dog's Purpose is a feel good family film and it works well with its concept. It tells the story of one dog who goes through four lives via reincarnation and we see its different experiences each time. Its first life is also where the film spends its longest, in order to build up a bond with the characters. Ethan, a young boy, gets a puppy and names him Bailey. The good thing with the film is that it shows the good along with the bad. You would have thought Ethan had a happy life, and at one point, things were going well for him. However, his life starts to fall apart and it is sad seeing these things happen. We get commentary from Bailey and while it's the usual misinterpretation since Bailey doesn't understand all the things that humans do, it is still amusing. Once that life ends and Bailey reincarnates into other ones, they are a bit weaker because less time is spent on them. It's still interesting to watch the differences in terms of owners and Bailey's thoughts. The film ends in a nice way by going a complete full circle, so while the film doesn't especially excel in what it does, it does it good enough that the journey felt worthwhile and memorable.
