Review: Fluke

The title character (played in doggie form by Comet, who starred on TV’s “Full House”. I think he played one of the Olsen Twins) is first seen as an orphaned Labrador puppy picked up by a homeless woman, who later dies of a heart attack. From there, Fluke hangs out with street-smart dog Rumbo (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson), who helps him adjust to life on the mean streets. But Fluke is no ordinary dog, it seems. He’s having visions of what appear to be a former life...as a human...and seeing the lovely Nancy Travis. Rumbo wants Fluke to forget all that, but Fluke is determined to track down this woman, and her son (Max Pomeranc) and fill in all the gaps to this mystery, which also includes a slicked-back businessman played by Eric Stoltz. Bill Cobbs plays a vendor with a special rapport with Rumbo, Jon Polito turns up as a gruff but amiable-type who looks after Rumbo, and Ron Perlman plays an antagonistic thug who takes an intense dislike to Fluke.

Have you ever heard that you should never revisit things you loved as a kid? Well, it’s still disappointing when you revisit something you just kinda liked as a youngster. I remembered enjoying this 1995 film version of the James Herbert novel, from Italian co-writer/director Carlo Carlei (“Flight of the Innocent”). I couldn’t remember why exactly, but I do remember that it made me a bit teary-eyed, and I’m a sucker for cute puppies. Watching it again in early 2013, the film doesn’t hold up, and given I was 15 the first time I saw it, maybe it wasn’t all that great back then, either. It’s still a watchable movie, but it doesn’t quite come off.

The movie has a cheap, made-for-TV look to it (it was released direct-to-video in Australia and most other places), and the vocal work by Matthew Modine in essentially the lead role is flat and boring. The maudlin and overly calculated music score Carlo Siliotto (“Flight of the Innocent”) is irritating, and the film didn’t wring any tears out of me this time, anyway. I also think that although there appears to be enough plot for ten movies at first, it ultimately feels like a very thin idea stretched out beyond breaking point, and everything else is just irrelevant padding. Meanwhile, whenever Nancy Travis and Max Pomeranc are on screen, it feels like a different movie altogether. A safer, more sitcom-like movie.

Then there’s the film’s treatment of the ‘villain’ played by Eric Stoltz. I don’t want to spoil anything, suffice to say that the screenplay by Carlei and James Carrington treats that character in a rather deceitful manner that left a bad taste in my mouth, and actually has you rethinking the entire film and even hating the main character. Yes, I actually hated the damn dog, it was a most unreliable of unreliable narrators. It’s a dishonest way of arriving at the film’s basic message, which if delivered straightforward, would’ve been perfectly bloody fine. In fact, it’s a really, really nice message that even an atheist like me can stomach, if not believe (Not all religious people believe in the idea of reincarnation anyway).

But look, there are still some things that appealed to me about this film. For starters, it earns points for showing the underrated “Robin and Marian” on a TV screen. And although Modine is terrible in voicing Fluke, Comet the dog manages to give one of the best performances in the entire film in the title role. He does, however look awfully red for a Golden Retriever to me, though I’m no doggie expert (The dog from “Full House” wasn’t red, so methinks something screwy is a-goin’ on there). The dogs are awfully cute, and it’s hard to look away when they’re on screen. Like “Milo and Otis”, it’s fun to just watch these animals do what they do. The POV camerawork (despite the seemingly TV quality of the actual photography) and scant dialogue in the early going are interesting and unusual, making the film stand out a bit (And you don’t need much dialogue to tell you that the guy with Cro-Magnon facial features ain’t a guy with good intentions!). Meanwhile, did you know that while androids might dream of electric sheep, apparently puppies dream of Nancy Travis? Travis has such a warm and likeable presence on screen, it’s such a shame that even today (after having seemingly vanished towards the end of the 90s) she’s bouncing from one generic mum character to another (though now it’s mostly TV work she’s getting). There’s a nice small role for Jon Polito, and best of all is the voice work of Samuel L. Jackson as Fluke’s doggy pal.

I’m not sure how well this would play with kids, given some of the strange material and the unusual POV work and small amount of dialogue, but it’s certainly an OK film. With a more honest narrative and better vocal work in the title role, it might’ve been even better than that. It’s probably best to stick with the book, ultimately, though.

 

Rating: C+