Darling Companion

Beth Winter (Diane Keaton) rescues a lost dog from the side of a road. Her husband Joseph (Kevin Kline) is a self-important surgeon. Beth brings the dog Freeway home and her daughter Grace (Elisabeth Moss) falls for the vet. At Grace's wedding in the mountains, their nephew Bryan (Mark Duplass) develops a crush on Carmen (Ayelet Zurer) who runs the place. Joseph's sister Penny (Dianne Wiest) has a new boyfriend Russell (Richard Jenkins) who is using her money to start a pub. Joseph carelessly loses the dog in the woods. It sets off a big search for Freeway. I'm not sure if the stakes are high enough here. It's a bunch of family members with minor issues looking for a dog. It's not like the audience grows to love the dog. It's more of an excuse for each family member to work out their issues. Lawrence Kasdan and his wife have created the lightest and mildest of family drama. The great cast of actor showed up to play but the writing is not up to the task.

The movie starts off promising with an A list cast and quite cute dialog. Diane Keaton and Elizabeth Moss play mother and daughter who rescue a dog off a freeway. This leads to romance and a wedding for with between daughter and the vet at the family Colorado country home. Kevin Kline plays Diane's doctor husband who loses the dog in the woods soon after and then the extended family including a sister played by Diane Wiest and her boyfriend and her son. It all gets annoying when they spend days and get injured looking for the dog. Diane's character seems insanely attached to the dog for no real reason risking her and her husband's life and getting him injured. Starts off with Woody Allen potential and ends in just a pile of doggie doo. Don't waste your time. It deserved to flop.

Finally a movie about the lives of older folks in which the young take second place. Remember Diane Keaton in Looking for Mr good Bar and Sleeper? Well now she's a lot more mature and wears glasses.Kevin Kline,remember him in Big chill?Now a lot more mature as well.Diane Wiest. She's changed too. Diane plays beth,who just bi her grown daughter and her grand son baby, at the airport, Elisabeth Moss ,plays Keaton's second daughter Grace,who drove her to the airport.Keaton character is worried that her second daughter has not found Mr right had gotten married.While Beth's husband ,played by Kevin Kline is so busy as a spine surgeon,she complaints that he has no time for he.Diane Wiest plays Penny her sister, who just got married to Russell ,played by Richard Jenkins,But her son ,who's a surgeon, played by once again ,Mark Doublass,Doublass? ,of the Other sisters sisters ,fame, is worried that her husband isn't working and she's still supporting him and Russel wants her to invest in a English pub ,in the mid west for him to open up.Well Diane ,as she's coming home from air port,I think, finds a injured sick dog,which she rehabilitates and names him Freeway.This dog, that now she take care of start to improved the families life.Grace meets veterinarian Sam,an India decent American,played by Jay Ali.They both fall in love with the aid of the dog.So as the whole family are at a cabin to celebrate the wedding,after the wedding Freeway gets lost and Beth can't leave until they can find the dog,Penny and her husbands maid Carmen ,a Gypsy,played Ayelet Zurer by uses what little psychic ability to help them find the dog.This is when the problem happen,in searching for the dog.Bryan and Carmen get to know each other better.Diane and Kevin get lost in the woods looking for the dog but they kindle their love for each. Lindsey Sloan plays one of the citizens who helps Kevin and Jenkins to find Freeway.Robert Bear plays Possum ,who a rude resident that chases both Jenkinds and Kevin out of his property. Very older Sam Shepherd,plays the kind fun loving Sheriff Morris,with kidney stone problem .A some time funny very sentimental movie.I saw this at Starz on demand.02/25/13

Beth (Diane Keaton) has always played second fiddle to her doctor-husband Joseph's (Kevin Kline) job as an orthopedic surgeon. As someone who was busy raising three daughters, this didn't matter so much. But, now the gals are grown and the tension between Beth and Joe is pretty palpable. As they reside in Denver, one snowy winter day, Beth spies a dog on the side of the road, a major highway. She insists that her daughter pull over so they can rescue him. After a trip to the vet, where Beth's daughter makes eyes with the veterinarian, Beth takes "Freeway" the canine home. To be sure, Joseph doesn't really want to keep the mutt but, for once, Beth insists. Over the next few months, Beth and Freeway form a strong attachment while Joe softens his stance a bit. Romance is in the air! Yes, soon the vet and the dog rescuer's girl are walking down the aisle, in a remote area of the state. After the ceremony, Beth, Joe and assorted relatives and friends stay on for a few days at the mountain resort. Alas, Joe takes a call on his cellphone as he is walking the dog and Freeway breaks free and gets lost. As a result, long standing grievances come out between Beth and Joseph, as Beth blames Joe for Freeway's missing status. So, will the lovable canine be found and will it be at the cost of the marriage? This worthwhile film is not without flaws but it is not a disaster by any means. For certain, the cast adds greatly to its entertainment value, as Keaton, Kline, Diane Wiest, Richard Jenkins, and the rest get as much out of their roles as possible. Kline, especially, has a truly unlikeable part, redeemed somewhat at the end, which takes courage to play. Then, too, the scenery is quite wonderful while the photography is equally fine. As for the script, it is definitely uneven and rather haphazardly put together, which makes director Kasdan work harder to polish up the results. Then, too, while the dog in the movie is darling, this is really not an animal flick but rather one about human relationships and their perils. Therefore, if you are attracted to the cast, director, or setting, take a chance on the flick and bring it home.

This movie is a study in awful! Just awful! The story unfolds like you are pulling teeth! Diane Keaton is just plain weird here and Kevin Kline looks lost and confused throughout. Story - Beth finds a dog along a snow covered freeway. Risk her life to get dog. Dog becomes pet. One year later daughter married veterinarian that doctored frozen dog. Dog runs away (that should have been a hint to viewers). All that happens in first 20 minutes of movie! Now you have 83 more minutes to watch a bunch of actors run around in woods looking for dog - it rains, it's cold, they are stupid. If there is an example of 'actors doing it for the money' this is it! Good luck watching .... this movie is bad medicine.

The Kasdan's always seem to write about family relationships and this film is certainly no exception. Diane Keaton pulls out all the stops as the wife of spinal surgeon, Kevin Kline, mature and excellent in the part. She finds a dog on a highway with her daughter, the latter quickly marries the vet they bring the dog to. The film is about human relations among the family. Dianne Wiest is also very good as Kline's sister, with her new boyfriend and son, also a doctor, all attending the daughter's wedding. The film then becomes one of searching for the dog who goes lost. Everyone seems to reveal their inner selves and it becomes a fascinating character study.

I AM a menopausal chick, and this flick does not cut it. All this talent wasted on a completely predictable plot ["We're getting older!!!" Unhappily they're not doing that in an interesting way, either]. It was not even funny, ever, except for one line. We kept watching it, hoping it would get better. It never did. The Kevin Kline character was a believable a$$hole who we are then supposed to believe does a complete 180 because after twenty-five years his wife's nagging suddenly takes effect. Um, no. I wished something interesting would happen: that the younger doctor would maybe refuse to return to the big city because he falls in love across class lines and is not as attached to his place of residence as his love object is attached to her small town, or that the Diane Keaton character, instead of her daughter, would run off with the young veterinarian -- stranger things have happened -- but no such luck.

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what a sleeper of a fantastic movie.. heartwarming, real, touching, true to life... and it gives meaning to loving animals as much if not more than people....who give us unconditional love, respect, and devotion... unlike our own humans.... but not withstanding, we still need the companionship of our own kind... but it as you will find out, is a much better world with our loving animals to keep us sane, grounded, and happy, It brings out all the emotions we humans have, for better or worse, but real...this wonderful movie makes you feel good about life.. something we all need right now............ Go to see this movie now... don't wait.. run don't walk.. and see it over and over and over again....oh, bring a few tissues...

I am a dog lover and never miss the chance to watch a good dog movie. I rented this movie thinking my 10 year old daughter and I would sit down and have an enjoyable time together. About 20 minutes into the movie and both my daughter and I were doing something else. She was on the computer and I was reading a Harbor Freight tools flyer that came in. The movie starts slow, stays slow and finishes slow. There are too many characters involved and hard to keep up with who's doing what and why. I only finished the movie to see what the ending was like. I am a glutton for punishment. I should have watched the 10 O'clock news instead. Didn't get my $1.30 worth. (I rented it at Redbox) I was very disappointed with it.

This is a wonderful "feel good" movie that everyone can enjoy. It will be especially meaningful to anyone who has been part of a family when the last child is married off and the parents deal with their adult relationship with each other and other members of their families. It was directed and produced by Lawrence Kasden ( Big Chill, Grand Canyon and many more big time hits ) who also wrote the script along with his wife Meg Kasden . They put together an honest story that showed love, romance and every day comedy in way that most people should be able to relate to and immensely enjoy. They assembled a cast of actors who were able to embody the characters they created in a skillful and very authentic manner. Beth (Diane Keaton) and Joseph (Kevin Kline) are the newly "empty nested" parents as their daughter Grace (Elizabeth Moss of "Mad Men" fame) ,the youngest of their children, finally finds Mr. Right and gets married. Jospeh is a spine surgeon whom Beth acknowledges may have always been a little full of himself but is shown to ultimately be a good guy. Penny is Jospeh's divorced sister (Diane Wiest) who has found her new love Russell (Richard Jenkins) who is a bumbling guy who wants to marry Penny and open an English pub in Iowa. Bryan ( Mark Duplass) is Penny's son who is also a spine doctor and has a touching flirtation with gypsy like housekeeper (Ayelet Zurer) of the family's vacation house in the beautiful Colorado mountains ( which was filmed in the beautiful Utah mountains) . Sam Sheppard is Sheriff Morris who adds further warmth to the already tender story. What we haven't told you yet is that the story is tied together by a lovable dog – that almost magically appears and then disappears ! The movie is the story about the search for the dog which occurs while the characters are finding themselves and their own bearings. The story is just right at 103 minutes . The acting is perfect-Diane Keaton is at her mature best, the country type music hits the spot and the film features a a dog! How can it go wrong?