Rettungshund Ruby (2022)

Rettungshund Ruby (2022). Rettungshund Ruby: Directed by Katt Shea. With Grant Gustin, Scott Wolf, Kaylah Zander, Camille Sullivan. Chasing his dream to join an elite K-9 unit, a state trooper partners with a fellow underdog: clever but naughty shelter pup Ruby.

“Ruby(Bear), an Australian shepherd and border collie mix, has been returned to the shelter for the fifth time due to her hyperactivity, destructive nature, and inability to take commands. Per shelter policy the shelter must reluctantly declare Ruby u0026quot;unadoptableu0026quot; but shelter worker Pat Inman (Camille Sullivan) asks for one more day to find Ruby a home and is given one. Meanwhile family man and Rhode Island State Trooper, Daniel Ou0026#39;Neil (Grant Gustin), is applying once again for the K-9 unit. The unitu0026#39;s head, Matt Zarrella (Scott Wolf), is aware of Ou0026#39;Neilu0026#39;s strong desire to join, but is also uncertain about Ou0026#39;Neilu0026#39;s issues with hyperactivity and restlessness. Zarrella says they donu0026#39;t have any more German Shepherds for recruits, but if Ou0026#39;Neil can provide his own he can get in. Already raising an infant son and Ou0026#39;Neilu0026#39;s wife, Melissa (Kaylah Zander), pregnant with a second child, Ou0026#39;Neil canu0026#39;t afford the $10,000 for a German Shepherd. Retired mechanic, Seamus Brady (Tom McBeath), tells Ou0026#39;Neil the dog doesnu0026#39;t have to be a German Shepherd and only needs to be a trainable medium sized dog which leads Ou0026#39;Neil to the local animal shelter where he finds Ruby, adopts her, and tries to train her unfocused energy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRaised by Ruby is an adaptation of the short story Dogwink Ruby from the book Dogwinks by Squire Rushnell and Louise DuArt. The story itself is based on the true story of Rhode Island State Police Cpl. Daniel Ou0026#39;Neil and shelter dog Ruby who was saved from euthanasia by Daniel Ou0026#39;Neilu0026#39;s last minute adoption and Patricia Inmanu0026#39;s stopping Ruby from being put down more than once. The movie comes to us from Dan Angelu0026#39;s Fezziwig Studios which is no stranger to Squire Rushnell adaptations having produced three Godwink Christmas movies inspired by Squireu0026#39;s Godwink series from which Dogwinks came. With a pedigree that comes from Hallmark movies and childrenu0026#39;s film and TV youu0026#39;ll find Rescued by Ruby ticks many of the boxes you find in one of these heartstring tugging u0026quot;true storyu0026quot; movies, and yet I canu0026#39;t deny that it works.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGrant Gustin of CWu0026#39;s The Flash is a solid lead in Daniel Ou0026#39;Neil and brings his natural charm and charisma to the film with effortless ease. Ou0026#39;Neil is a loving family man, dedicated Trooper, and is well liked in the community (for good reason). Despite this Ou0026#39;Neil struggles with hyperactivity and dyslexia and Gustin does a solid job of conveying that to the audience with his exhibition of various ticks and coping mechanisms that he tries to overcome. Gustin is well complemented by Ruby as played by real life shelter rescue, Bear, who like Ruby was scheduled to be euthanized but was rescued by the production team and trained for the movie (be sure to stick through the credits for the outtakes). Bearu0026#39;s performance is well done in the movie as Ruby is conveyed to us as a high energy dog with some focus and control issues but also exhibits intelligence and tenacity making her and Ou0026#39;Neil an endearing set of leads.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite being based on a true story the writing is often that very on the nose u0026quot;Hallmarkyu0026quot; style of writing thatu0026#39;s almost become a parody of itself. Unlike a lot of these types of movies thereu0026#39;s no villain with the shelter manager shown to be reluctant to put Ruby down and Scott Wolfu0026#39;s K-9 lead Zarrella shown to be a tough but very fair judge of Ruby and Ou0026#39;Neillu0026#39;s partnership. But there are also elements like u0026quot;the sage adviceu0026quot; character in Seamus or the third act nadir (which is admittedly based on an actual event from Ou0026#39;Neil and Rubyu0026#39;s relationship, but it plays exactly how you expect it to). There are also moments where the editing is a little sloppy such as during Rubyu0026#39;s test but given the nature of the dog actor itu0026#39;s forgivable. But easily the biggest point in this movieu0026#39;s favor is the fact the dog doesnu0026#39;t talk. Movies like A Dogu0026#39;s Purpose, A Dogu0026#39;s Journey, or A Dogu0026#39;s Way Home show how wrong a premise like this can get with obnoxious voice over narration so the fact the dog is expressed through body language and animal noises is a major plus for this kind of movie (at least for me).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRescued by Ruby doesnu0026#39;t break from most of the tropes of inspiring true story movies, but with a charismatic pair of human and animal leads in Grant Gustin and Bear and some solid charm itu0026#39;s honestly an engaging sit for the kind of movie it is. Itu0026#39;s a solid story of underdogs (both literal and figurative) overcoming the odds and sometimes you need that.”