Good Boy (15) |Close-Up Film Review
Dir: Ben Leonberg, US, 2025, 74 mins,
Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden
Review by Carol Allen
The story for which Indy has been recruited is a horror one, in which he moves with his master Todd (Shane Jensen) to a long deserted house in the country, possibly previously owned by Todd’s Grandad. Indy susses immediately that there’s something spooky going on here, which is possibly why Grandad (Larry Fessenden) is no longer around. And something nasty is obviously going to happen to his master if Indy doesn’t find some way of warning him.
That’s what we’re supposed to believe. The canine actor of course has no idea about all that. He just adopts various positions and poses as enticed by his master. We’re told director and dog took 400 days over three years to shoot the film, as Leonberg tried to capture appropriate shots from his beloved pet. Most of the time Indy looks very worried and somewhat bewildered, as indeed so might the audience. Neither of us really understands what’s going on. Who Is that big lurking figure that looks like it’s covered in tar? Is that the possible fate of his master? Dunno.
There’s a lot of atmosphere in this but not a lot of clarity in the plot. Just a load of wannabe scary shots. One odd aspect is we don’t actually get to see the face of Indy’s master – Jensen, the actor playing him that is – until late in the film. For most of the time he’s just a shadowy, out of focus figure. To have seen man and dog together from the outset would have increased our empathy and it would have helped our engagement with the film if we could have built up some sort of identification with him through Indy’s devotion.
As it is the story, doesn’t make a lot of sense but the dog is lovely Best looking canine star since Lassie.
