The Thousands

Although it’s based on an actual red heeler that roamed WA’s Pilbara region in the 1970s, Red Dog is a shaggy dog story. Satisfyingly cheesy, it charms in the telling rather than the tail. Its fairytale quality reminds me of another Aussie animal flick, The Silver Brumby, (which is still the pinnacle of Russell Crowe’s acting career). Like the horse in that film, Red Dog (Koko, whom I saw at the premiere – exciting!) recedes rather inscrutably into the background. His story is much more about human emotions and connections.

It’s firmly in the Australian tradition of sentimentalising the bush. Mining towns were and are tough, ugly, lonely places, but to a killer ’70s soundtrack, Red Dog transforms Dampier and Karratha into boofhead havens where mates bond over beachside BBQs and pub singalongs. Arthur Angel is an ebullient Italian; John Batchelor a burly softie; Rohan Nichol an anguished depressive. In a nice wink to The Year My Voice Broke, Noah Taylor and Loene Carmen run the pub. Yankee import Josh Lucas is, by contrast, rather cool and subtle as Red Dog’s only true owner, a restless American, who sparks with secretary Rachael Taylor. Good movie. Sit. Stay.