Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

A drama based on the true story of a college professor's bond with the abandoned dog he takes into his home.

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Stephen P. Lindsey (screenplay), Kaneto Shindô (motion picture "Hachiko monogatari")

Stars:

Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	Parker Wilson
Joan Allen	...	Cate Wilson
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Ken
Sarah Roemer	...	Andy
Jason Alexander	...	Carl
Erick Avari	...	Jasjeet
Davenia McFadden	...	Mary Anne
Robbie Sublett	...	Michael (as Robbie Collier Sublett)
Kevin DeCoste	...	Ronnie - 11 years
Rob Degnan	...	Teddy Barnes (as Robert Degnan)
Tora Hallstrom	...	Heather (as Tora Hallström)
Donna Sorbello	...	Myra
Frank S. Aronson	...	Milton - The Butcher (as Frank Aronson)
Troy Doherty	...	Sal
Ian Sherman	...	Student Pianist

Storyline

In Bedridge, Professor Parker Wilson finds an abandoned dog at the train station and takes it home with the intention of returning the animal to its owner. He finds that the dog is an Akita and names it Hachiko. However, nobody claims the dog so his family decides to keep Hachi.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | loyalty | japanese | puppy | friend | 

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Taglines:

A true story of faith, devotion and undying love.

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [de]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

12 March 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

Siempre a tu lado

Filming Locations:

Bristol, Rhode Island, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£442,753 (UK) (12 March 2010)

Gross:

£1,048,876 (UK) (26 March 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stage 6 Films, Inferno Distribution, Hachiko

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Parker uses Netscape 3.0 on Mac OS (classic) to browse the Internet on October 26, 1996 (the date of baseball 1996 World Series, Game 6). This is historically correct: the browser was released on August 19, 1996. The websites he visits appear to be large static images, which contain the whole page pre-rendered separately.

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Goofs

The puppy has obviously grown several weeks between its departure from a monastery in Japan and being found at a train station presumably less than a day after.

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Quotes

Andy Wilson: Hey. You know we love you, Hachi. We want you to stay here with us. If you have to go... that's okay too. Good-bye, Hachi.

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Connections

References Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog (1961)

User Reviews

You cannot get it any better than this

Its really hard to articulate when you have so much to write and so little words to express. And even lesser words which could actually help you convey what you want to say. The closest word which comes to my mind in this case is 'stupendous'.

Hachiko is a true story about a dog in Japan and the special bond he shared with a professor whom he met when it was a little puppy. The story has been put forward exceptionally well by the cast and the director.

The movie has been kept extremely simple with minimum effort on the scenes, yet remarkably you are kept spellbound after a couple of minutes into the movie. And as the other reviews suggest, making the whole theater grab onto their tissues explains how good it really is.

Lastly, coming for someone who also rates 'Eight below' as one of his favorite's, a high rating of Hachiko would seem a little biased to many. But in my honest opinion I don't think that anybody who has watched this movie can rate it below 10.