MY DOG DOU DOU (2012)

Genre: Drama
Director: Ng Say Yong
Cast: Jason Wang, Ivan Lo, Cathryn Lee, Alvin Wong, Tommy Kuan, Zhu Houren, Yvonne Lim. Flapper the Dog
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Clover Films & Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 20 September 2012

Synopsis: This is a warm, feel-good fantasy-action drama about a gambler father and his estranged son, and how a dog with predictive powers brings them closer together. Through their ups and downs, the father, Meng, discovers the meaning of altruistic love and loyalty, and the son, Xing, finally finds the father he has always been looking for…

Movie Review:

A movie that boasts of so many ‘first times’, first local movie featuring a dog as the main lead; first leading role for Taiwanese actor Jason Wong; first time directing for local veteran television producer Ng Say Yong; could it possibly score and nab its first at our local ticket box office as well?

My Dog Dou Dou is a movie that centers around a little boy and his encounter with a dog. Following an accident, there seems to be something unusual happening because of the dog. The set-up of the movie started well, introducing the lovable dog and the little boy, and then subsequently the gambling addict of a father, who could not care less for his family. It all still seems very promising at this point, with a bond established between the little boy and the dog which brought some drama and differences to their lives - but eventually it loses steam.

The whole movie was rather slow paced. There were some funny elements here and there, but not enough to keep your interest high. It attempted to put some suspense into the story, but it turned out that the plot was hardly engaging. Moreover, the characterization was pretty weak too. It was hard to ‘feel for them’ or ‘be in their shoes’.

The cast of the movie is supposedly quite promising, with our local young actor Ivan Lo, young Malaysian actress Cathryn Lee, and Taiwanese actor Jason Wong, known for his lead role in the hit Taiwanese drama series, ‘Love’, in the league. But because their roles were nowhere near challenging, and with the lack of support from the plot, there wasn’t anything impressive about their acting. Perhaps the 8 year-old Ivan Lo did outdo himself a little, expressing well his affection towards the dog.

If you were to ask who was really the most outstanding in the movie, it would be undoubtedly the dog, Flapper. The dog is incredibly clever, from the beginning to the end. The ‘tricks’ that it performed were quite impressive, and it is very intuitive and endearing. Flapper is definitely the charm of the movie!

Getting a little bit to the technical side, the camera work definitely needs to be improved. It was rather distracting for the viewers, for instance cutting from one close-up to an extreme close-up many times at one particular scene.

It is definitely refreshing and encouraging to see that our local talents are attempting the road less traveled, like featuring a dog as the main cast. However, there are still many things that need a lot more maturation, like beefing up the story, having more creative angles and giving a better focus overall to be able to match up with other Asian counterparts who produce similar movies

Movie Rating:

(Baffling storyline that boggles you… but not in the most positive sense)

Review by Tho Shu Ling