Togo2019

Togo is in a slightly more sombre register than Call Of The Wild but delivers similar sturdy pleasures; exciting dog-in-peril action and striking landscapes, all anchored by Dafoe’s grounded performance.

Real talk, we need to stop using Max Richter's "On The Nature Of Daylight" in stuff. That tune's an express lane straight to me crying and I can't take it anymore. Kidding aside, the last 10 - 15 minutes of this movie really are ROUGH. The content itself isn't anything traumatic. It's just the way things round out (the voiceover, the editing, the finality of the events, etc.) that really got me. Also, much love to this movie for setting out to correct the record regarding what actually happened during the 1925 serum run. I always loved the idea of the story and had no clue just how misinformed I was about the true-to-life happenings. I still, of course, love Balto (just as I love all the brave little doggies involved in the historic feat) but Togo definitely was a real one, as they say. This is a well-acted, well-conceived depiction of unbridled heroism — both on the part of humans and canines alike — and a thoroughly enriching experience all around.

The movie is affectionate because it has that sense of animal love that lets entire sequences rest on Togo’s charms, but is by no means letting the dog do all the work. Director Ericson Core (previously of the “Point Break” remake) clearly cares about animals, but filmmaking, too.