# Red Dog

> The film follows a dog as it is picked up hitch hiking and taken into a remote Australian mining town

By Lyndal Irons · 15 February 2012 · Reviews / Gaming

Canonical: https://insights1.uca.org.au/articles/red-dog/

## **(PG) Roadshow DVD/BD**

Even before I pressed play I knew *Red Dog* was a powerful film. I had heard prominent film critics award their highest praise and intelligent, cynical people compare stories about the scene that reduced them to tears.

And so I watched optimistically, knowing there would come a time where I would feel heart warmed and devastated in the cosiest patriotic way.

The film follows a dog as it is picked up hitch hiking and taken into a remote Australian mining town where it impacts the lives of those who live there in quirky and adorable ways.

Confusingly, I remained unmoved by what seemed like a predictable and clichéd depiction of my country. Am I that severe and badly defined foe — an “un-Australian” — for neither crying nor laughing, for even cringing throughout migrant stereotypes, Australian stereotypes and plots that were predictable from the get-go?

While it references the genuine classics before it (Loene Carmen and Noah Taylor from *The Year My Voice Broke* reunite as a publican couple, there is a pub scene that though fluffier, is reminiscent of *Wake in Fright*) *Red Dog* doesn’t break new ground.

Nonetheless, it obviously rings true for most Australians and it’s great to see and Australian film advertised on billboards, buses, even in vet clinics. *Red Dog* seems to have succeeded in hypnotising our country in a way *Australia* only budgeted for. It’s also priceless PR for kelpies.

**Lyndal Irons**