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.]] |
3 | |
4 | ->''"All the sad faces in the world ain't gonna work, so you can just stop."'' |
5 | ->-- '''John Grant''' |
6 | |
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. |
8 | |
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. |
10 | |
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. |
14 | |
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. |
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