The Movie: Little Q / 小 Q
The Director: Law Wing Cheong
The Cast: Simon Yam, Gigi Leung, Him Law, Charlie Yeung, Shanshan Yuan, Angela Yeun, Frankie Lam, Roger Kwok Chun On
The Story: Little Q, a yellow lab with a curious birthmark, is training to become a guide dog for the blind. When his training is complete, Little Q is sent to help Lee Bo Ting, a famous, recently blinded chef.
The Review:
Any movie about dogs or featuring dogs in the story there is going to be a danger of emotions overload and the potential of tears streaming so I tried to prepare myself for the inevitability of it all. The movie, adapted from the Japanese novel Goodbye, Khoru, is a tribute to guide dogs and the lives they live in service to those who need them so along with all the emotional stuff, we get a virtual dog's eye view of what their lives are like from training with a host family and being placed with a person in need which, in this case, is a chef who has recently lost his ability to see.
I feel like director Law Wing Cheong goes to great lengths to make the story as emotionally impactful as possible although the steady barrage of high impact attempts doesn't always work. Fortunately, that doesn't take away from the overall value of the tale and the ending absolutely lands exactly how you want it to, or don't want it to, depending on how much tissue you have available or are wanting to use. The dogs that are used to make the movie are all super cute and you can't help but fall for them as soon as they appear on screen. I think there must have been several different dogs that played the character of Little Q since we see him over the course of his entire life.
Lead actor Simon Yam's prolific career dates all the way back to the late 70's and according to IMDB, he has 245 credits on his resume which is a pretty amazing achievement. I felt like his performance in this movie started out a little shaky as the story first has to establish the character as an excessively angry man who is frustrated with his new physical hardship and doesn't know how to adapt. Some of these moments are a little excessive and redundant and could have been pared back a bit without losing any effectiveness. Once the narrative shifts to the man building a relationship with Little Q, that's when Yam really goes to work and sells the character as more authentic human being all the way through to the end.
The Verdict:
Little Q is a love story to guide dogs that really gets to the heart of what their loves are all about. Movie lovers and dog lovers alike won't be able to resist this heartfelt tale of redemption and never ending devotion.
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