Peter Kettle Dean Spanley is certainly among the most delightful and subtle films I've seen for a long time. It is an unpretentious labour of love, a co-production of New Zealand and Britain, made partly with lottery money. Apart from being, in an entirely unsentimental way, the most interesting film about man and dogs, it is also brilliantly shot, wonderfully acted, and entirely lacking in all the ingredients a focus group or a big studio would demand. No heroics, indeed no hero; no sex; no violence; and no real drama. It has, instead, a wry humour, much deep imagination, and a series of fine performances by Sam Neill, Peter O'Toole, Bryan Brown, Jeremy Northam and the consistently wonderful Judy Parfitt. It has a great cameo by Dudley Sutton as well. It isn't a wonderful earth shatteringly important masterpiece in world cinema but it merits a burst of enthusiasm for its celebration of wit, humour, and the sadness all of us have to bear. The story comes from the short novel by Lord Dunsany, an odd writer who I admire. A widower (Peter O'Toole) cannot come to terms with his elder son's death in the Boer war and the subsequent demise of his wife. The question of dogs being reincarnated as humans arises over the consumption of a rare imperial Tokay. Richly atmospheric, this is a profound gem.

FiniusTBluster If you want proof that the people running Hollywood are morons, you have it in the fact that this movie was never released in the US. It is a better film than anything else I saw this past year, and that includes The Kings Speech. If anyone tells you they don't make great movies anymore, this film is proof they do.This film is a delight... well written, acted, and directed. My wife and I have now watched it six times. Each time we discover yet another hilarious, brilliant touch. This movie is funny, 'very intelligent, uplifting, and at the same time extremely thoughtful. Peter O'Toole is a hoot. Get it (you will have to order the DVD from Canada)... watch it (it is available to download in the US).. tell your friends about it. This movie is the real deal.

trails369 This film is a masterpiece with a great script, patiently building to a crescendo, delivered by skilled charming actors.Once upon a time, more than hundred years ago, before Google, before computers, before television, before movies, before radio, intelligent people still quested for understanding. If you are curious about reincarnation you might go to a public lecture and be aware of other people in the audience. The mysteries of why pain comes into your life, what gives happiness, can a soul survive death is the same in any century, and a quiet persistent pursuit yields result.The other reviewers do an excellent job of telling of Fisk Jr. Trying through weekly visits to thaw his curmudgeon distant father. was the father always abrasive and bitter? Will he always be so? What unlocks the emotions is a shaggy dog story. Somehow the aroma of a rare wine enjoyed by Dean Spanley unlocks the acute sense of smell of a dead spaniel, who lives again to tell his adventure. This is the adventure of the three astonished men and you the audience. It is more emotionally rewarding than all the explosions and chases and violence that are not in this film.

alinekaplan-1 We found Dean Spanley by surfing Comcast On Demand and were delighted by this witty, thought-provoking and emotional film. It's based on a story by Lord Dunsany, a writer who "imaginatively transforms materials from The Arabian Nights, classical mythology, Celtic, Germanic, and Hindu folklore as well as from medieval lays and quest romances." The cast is amazing for a New Zealand film, the script is excellent, the acting is superb and the climactic scene is totally gripping for all that it takes place in a dinner-table conversation. American film makers should take note of how this is done -- but they won't. Peter O'Toole should get an Oscar for his performance as Fisk Senior -- but he won't. We should all be able to see more movies like Dean Spanley -- but I'm not holding my breath. Don't let that keep you from enjoying this terrific movie. Four enthusiastic thumbs-up for Dean Spanley. (Dean is a title, not a name.)