Dog Years

Dog Years
Original title:Dog Years
Director:Adam Rifkin
Release:Cinema
Running time:103 minutes
Release date:00 0000 (France)
Rating:

Nikayaya's Review

It’s bittersweet that Director Adam Rifkin wrote Dog Years with Burt Reynolds specifically in mind; an actor who at his peak was one of the most revered men in Hollywood. With charisma and matching looks, it’s not hard to understand Reynolds wide spread appeal. But how long does a star shine after the lights have dimmed? Can they exist when no one is watching? Life after fame is the very heart of Dog Years, seeking to explain what happens when a star falls.

Vic Edwards (Burt Reynolds) lives an average existence in comparison to his once famed life, TV meal pace in an aging paradigm we are all meant to experience with time. An invitation to the International Nashville Film Festival where he is set to be the honorary guest drags him from his forced comfort into the reality of his present existence. His return to Tennessee becomes the catalyst for Vic’s search to resolve his regrets, the most devastating being the loss of his one true love to his once young ego.

Lil’s (Ariel Winter) presence as Vic’s resistant weekend assistant seemingly serves as a narrator to Vic’s past life, triggering the memories that formed the rise and fall of the icon. Through Lil we see how time changes the landscape of time and life, and how difficult that indifference that can be for someone once so loved as Vic. The film is emotional, not so much in the loss of Vic’s charmed life, but in his acceptance of it, and the regrets he seeks to close. Reynolds not only acts the part, he embodies it; from his shared screen time with film shots of his former self, to his delight at being recognized while amidst a medical reaction, you watch with almost blurred recognition. Vic Edwards may be a former star, but after watching Dog Years, you won’t ever forget Burt Reynolds.

To finish, congratulations to the creators of Dog Years on their win of the Chairman’s Award at the San Diego International Film Festival.

Dog Years
Directed by Adam Rifkin
Produced by Brian Cavallaro, Neil Mandt, Adam Rifkin, Gordon Whitener
Written by Adam Rifkin
Starring Burt Reynolds, Ariel Winter, Clark Duke, Ellar Coltrane, Nikki Blonsky, Chevy Chase
Music by Austin Wintory
Cinematography : Scott Winig
Edited by Dan Flesher
Production company : Broken Twig Productions, The Whitener Company
Distributed by A24, DirecTV
Running time : 103 minutes
Country : United States

Photos: Copyright A24

Screened at the San Diego International Film Festival

Nikayaya's Mark: