ReviewHaw movie review: a missing dog comforts new human friends in lighthearted Japanese drama
- An office worker, Tamio (Kei Tanaka), whose girlfriend has dumped him adopts a big dog he calls Haw, whose vocal cords a previous owner removed
- When his furry companion begins an odyssey across Japan, making new friends everywhere he goes, Tamio sets off in pursuit – and has to come out of his shell
3/5 stars
Companionship makes life easier for everyone, be they man or beast, is the message of Isshin Inudo’s big-hearted tale of a fluffy white dog who has lost his bark.
The episodic structure of Haw doesn’t make the lengthy runtime easy to endure, but dog lovers are amply catered for in this likeable, and very literal, shaggy dog story.
Kei Tanaka plays the heartbroken Tamio, an office drone at Yokohama City Hall whose fiancée abandons him upon learning that her high-school crush is getting divorced.
Convinced by his boss to adopt a dog from his wife’s animal shelter, Tamio is immediately won over by a shaggy white mutt whose previous owner cruelly removed his vocal cords.
Reduced to barking in a husky whisper that sounds like “haw” (pronounced “how”) Tamio gives him that name and his forlorn frown is soon turned upside down.