Alone No More (AKA An Abandoned Team) (REVIEW) | Projector #shorts | A dog saves a man's life - video Dailymotion

Film Brain

Film Brain reviews this Hong Kong drama about a man who finds a reason to live after adopting a stray dog, but animal lovers definitely won't love an overly dark conclusion.

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00:00A dog changes Lawrence Chung's solitary life for the better in the Hong Kong dramedy Alone No More,

00:05also known as An Abandoned Team.

00:08Misanthropic retiree Chung has his life literally saved by a stray dog,

00:12who he begrudgingly adopts and names a roasted piggy after a taste for pork belly.

00:17Chung's outlook begins to brighten as he volunteers at Amy Lo's dog shelter

00:21and tries to rebuild his relationship with his estranged daughter, Fish Lou.

00:25There seems to be a bit of a trend recently in Hong Kong cinema with stray dogs.

00:29Last year there was Black Dog, which won the Uncertain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival,

00:34and now there's this, which was actually shot in 2022.

00:37Alone No More feels a bit like a Hong Kong take on something like A Man Called Ove

00:42and its American remake, but with a dog replacing the cat.

00:45And what a good girl she is too, played by a very expressive and adorable mongrel named Little,

00:50who sadly passed away shortly after filming. The movie is dedicated to her.

00:55Alone No More definitely packs in plenty of storylines,

00:57as it tries to tackle lots of different themes,

00:59from elderly loneliness to dysfunctional families,

01:02and sometimes that's more than it can carry.

01:05It tries to parallel these subplots with Lo's boyfriend proposing to leave to Edinburgh,

01:09paired with flashbacks revealing Chung's travelling for work strained his marriage,

01:13leading to his daughter moving to Montreal.

01:16Chung even treats Lo like a surrogate daughter, much to Lou's chagrin.

01:20The result is a somewhat shaggy dog story, pun completely intended,

01:24that perhaps may have been better focused more on its lead character.

01:28But with that said, it's mostly an amiable and gentle watch,

01:31balancing drama with jokes about fleas and cleaning up dog poo,

01:34so much dog poo,

01:36which makes it so jarring when the film takes an ill-advised turn towards the end.

01:41There's a running subplot about a dog poisoner,

01:43which reaches its climax with a mass poisoning event as Chung fights with a knife-carrying suspect.

01:48While this is inspired by a real issue in Hong Kong,

01:51this conclusion is far too dark and upsetting,

01:54with all the shots of animals in distress

01:56feeling like a very heavy-handed attempt to wring tears from the audience.

02:00I felt it soured an otherwise likeable feel about second chances,

02:04and how quote,

02:05every life matters.

Alone No More (AKA An Abandoned Team) (REVIEW) | Projector #shorts | A dog saves a man's life

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