Line #8 Film/RedDog


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bmzm3nte2njy5m15bml5banbnxkftztcwmty0mzuwng_v1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:That's the dog on the right.]]
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4	->''"All the sad faces in the world ain't gonna work, so you can just stop."''
5	->-- '''John Grant'''
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7	Red Dog is a 2011 Australian film directed by Kriv Stenders, starring Josh Lucas and Creator/RachaelTaylor and introducing Koko as the title character. The film tells the story of a dog in a Western Australian mining town and how he affects its inhabitants, including an American drifter, a secretary, an Italian immigrant and a quiet man with a tragic past.
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9	Received a prequel, ''Film/RedDogTrueBlue'', in 2016, as well as a spin-off documentary about the canine star, ''Koko: A Red Dog Story'', in 2019.
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11	----
12	!!The film provides examples of:
13	* AnachronismStew: The film features a drive-in screening of ''Jaws'' (1975) in 1973. Additionally, nobody smokes throughout the film despite there being no restrictions on it.
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15	* BetaCouple: John and Nancy's relationship borders on LoveAtFirstSight and develops quick and sweet over the next several scenes, [[spoiler:only to end in tragedy when John dies.]] Vanno spends months [[CannotSpitItOut trying to ask Rose out]], [[spoiler:but once he finally does, they soon end up HappilyMarried.]]
16	* BigBallOfViolence: The two fights between Red Dog and Red Cat are depicted as this.
17	* DoggedNiceGuy: Vanno. "Dogged", haha.
18	* FoodAsBribe: How Vanno convinces Red Dog to keep visiting the vet, while he [[CannotSpitItOut works up the courage]] to ask Rose out.
19	* FramingDevice: The bulk of the story is told as a series of anecdotes in the town pub to a visiting truck driver, [[spoiler:while Red Dog is slowly dying from suspected poisoning in the back room, and the town's residents race to the pub to pay their last respects]].
20	* HeroicDog: Red Dog gets John out of a pub brawl and later saves a man's life, though inadvertently, [[spoiler: through a DeliciousDistraction]].
21	* HospitalHottie: Rose. She actually works a veterinary clinic, but close enough.
22	* KickTheDog: Literally, at least the dog part; some pub-goers time Red Dog eating a can of dog food, then try to up the ante by having him eat a live chicken, but are foiled by John. The caretaker's wife takes it one further later on and tries to kill Red Dog by shooting him. In the present [[spoiler:someone is suspected of having poisoned Red Dog]].
23	* NoAntagonist: The Cribbages and [[CatsAreMean Red Cat]] are the closest to being actual villains of the film, but the former two are {{Jerkass}}es at worst and they end up moving away, and Red Cat gets redeemed by Red Dog midway through the film.
24	* OldDog: Red Dog in the narrative present.
25	* PuppyDogEyes: "All the sad faces in the world ain't gonna work, so you can just stop", says John when he meets Red Dog, who wants to hitch a ride in his bus. Sure they won't.
26	* UnreliableNarrator: Did Red Dog really ride a ship to Japan?
27	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The film is based on a book by Creator/LouisDeBernieres, which in turn is loosely based on anecdotes and even poems collected by Nancy Gillespie. All we know for sure is that there was a dog known to many as Red Dog who traveled Western Australia's Pilbara region, spending much of the meantime in the town of Dampier, adopted a bus driver as his master and [[spoiler:died in 1979 and then had a statue built in his honour]]. Much of what else happens to Red Dog throughout the film is based on common elements of various allegedly true events, and therefore probably have a kernel of truth to them.
28	* WalkTheEarth: John's life consisted of this before he met Nancy and Red Dog, having never lived in a place for more than two years. Red Dog does a lot of this too while [[spoiler:looking for John after his death]], supposedly even catching a ship to Japan at some point.
29	* WorthyOpponent: Offered as a possible reason why Red Dog and Red Cat became friends after their second fight.

Context Film / RedDog