Mangy Good Boy Does Its Magnetic Canine Star a Frustrating Disservice
I feel like Good Boy should be right up my alley. A paranormal haunted house horror yarn told almost entirely from the perspective of the family dog — Indy, a 35-pound retriever portraying himself — that features sensationally jittery sound design that augments the inherent creepiness of the situation considerably, this film still left me shockingly unmoved. Director, co-writer, and cinematographer Ben Leonberg has come up with a solid idea, only to drop the ball in developing it into something meaningful.
When his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), moves into the secluded country home of his recently deceased Grandpa (Larry Fessenden), the man’s loyal dog Indy senses something is amiss. There is a presence in the giant house, and it doesn’t want the canine sniffing around, trying to find out what it is up to. When Todd begins acting increasingly sickly and strange, Indy doubles his efforts to save him, looking in dark corners, underneath the furniture, and even in the dank, dilapidated cellar for answers as to what is going on.
It’s a wonderful idea, and Indy is up to the challenge of portraying the main character. An amateur animal actor making his film debut (he’s Leonberg’s actual dog), according to the production notes, almost all of his scenes were shot on a closed set with the director playing the part of “Todd” off-screen. This gives all of Indy’s movements, motions, and antics an almost documentary-like authenticity, his eyes filled with a warmhearted emotional gravitas that’s touching.
Pity, then, that the overall feature is so painfully slow. Even at only a scant 72 minutes, with rare exception, each tick of the clock is a laborious slog. Leonberg shoots things in impenetrable darkness, which sadly dilutes the suspense. Dream sequences where Indy has visions of the other dog that used to reside at the residence with Todd’s grandfather are too silly to shock. Finally, the metaphorical point to all that’s happening lands with a heavy-handed thud, ideas involving chronic disease, healthcare, and homeopathic remedies going nowhere.
But sound designer Kelly Oostman and her crack team do a fantastic job giving the picture a sonically disturbing ambience that, at least early on, kept me excited to see where things were going and to learn the truth behind the mysterious force that Indy was attempting to overcome. I was also quite taken with the suitably minimalist and somber score crafted by composer Sam Boase-Miller. Even better, there’s some nicely ephemeral creature work, and on the few instances where Leonberg allowed my eye to briefly capture a glimpse of a formless specter residing in ever-shifting corners of the frame, a noticeable chill shot up my spine.
All of this just makes it even more frustrating that the film has no bark (let alone anything resembling a bite). Indy is great, and Leonberg does offer up a few sinister moments that caught my attention. But, overall, this is an annoyingly sleepy supernatural shocker that never does enough with its intriguing premise to maintain interest. Good Boy is going to go down as one of the year’s most disappointing misfires.
Film Rating: 2 (out of 4)
