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Title: Baxter (2007) Starring: Lise Delamare, Jean Mercure, Jacques Spiesser, Catherine Ferran, and Jean-Paul Roussillon Director: Jérôme Boivin Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Runtime: 83 minutes Avg. Score: 4 Submit Comment Hits: 14

Review of Baxter

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Comments for Baxter

• Posted on 2008-05-27
  Very Torn (SPOILERS)
  
  I have to say as a dog lover and animal rights activist that a few scenes seemed way to real for the late 80s and if the abuse if the bull terrier and the black dog (and a few others)were really real, then I am ashamed to give any stars and take them back, but I am giving the makers of it the benefit of the doubt. That being said, it was like a trainwreck for me. I can't stop thinking about this movie. I knew I wasn't going to like it the minute I started watching and I was deeply disturbed, but I couldn't turn away. I started out hating Baxter in the beginning, but there was always a part that felt a little bad for him because of the narration that tried to show the dog's thinking versus our own. By the end of the movie, I felt that the boy and other characters were so evil that it made this murdering but loyal dog seem innocent. Throughout the movie all Baxter is trying to be is to be loved, whether killing the baby, or the old lady to get there. I actually found myself wanting Baxter to have a good owner which I though he would have in the kid before he lost his mind. All Baxter wanted was approval from his owner as well as challenge. Finally he got those from the boy and grew a conscience that's why he disobeyed and didn't do kill the boy's friend. But his conscience and loyalty did him in in the end. One thing I disagree about with the end is that I do believe the kid does get in trouble because you better believe the other kid that he tried to get Baxter to attack ratted him out. Another option is that the kid tries to kill his parents (like they set up in the end) so that he can be with the lady that Baxter loved across the street from the old lady (which turns out to be the irony= he really si just like Baxter in that way= wanted to be loved).
  Score: 3
• Posted on 2008-03-29
  Too dark for me
  
  I struggled with whether I could in good conscience recommend this film for any reason. The film is indeed very original and has good acting and production values. But the dog who is the central character is more a metaphor for the depraved depths of the human psyche; certainly the traits attributed to it have nothing to do with dogs and everything to do with human sociopathic behavior and mental illness. And yet viewers will have great difficulty not empathizing with it as a dog. WARNING - SPOILER AHEAD: I had a knot in my stomach from the first seconds of the film through the violent and disturbing denouement in which the boy abuses and kills the dog, yet kept watching in the absurd hope that somehow the filmmaker would find a way to redeem the story. The ending was very unsatisfactory: the boy lies about the incident and goes back to his suburban existence. Not only is this just too depraved for my tastes, but it makes no sense in terms of the boy's persona, which is totally obsessed with Hitler's final days and suicide.
  Score: 1
• Posted on 2007-10-10
  Beware the Dog that thinks
  
  Really funny, and passionate movie, the new cover is terrible, but the movie is the same gold.
  
  This is NOT a horror movie, its a really funny and interesting look into the mind of a dog.
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2007-08-21
  Dog Lovers Be Very Aware
  
  ...because after viewing this film you may find yourself thinking,"What in the hell is going on in my dog's head?". Is your dog really as sweet as you think? He/she sure has a lot of time to think doing all that lying around. People snap all the time and we somehow always find it shocking. Dogs are much more closely connected to that wild genetic material that is telling them to stalk, hunt, kill. I originally saw this movie about 15 years ago and it has stuck with me. A stunning study in existentialism.
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2007-07-24
  Despite the description, it's NOT horror
  
  The advertising for this DVD release of Baxter is misleading. Originally billed as a dark comedy, the Region 1 package describes Baxter as a "thoroughbred killing machine," and features the tagline "He'll love you to death." Baxter's body count is amazingly low for a "horror" movie; I think he successfully bumps off one person. This is not a horror movie. Baxter is a sociopathic pit bull, but the motivation for his violent acts are jealousy and discontent, not blood lust. The film is a darker example of the dark comedy genre, but it is still comedy. The sociopathic canine narrator is absurd, not frightening.
  
  I ran across this film in a high school French class and enjoyed its existential dog. It's not for everyone - there is violence, sex, and scenes of possible animal cruelty - but it is a unique and worthwhile 83 minutes. The DVD picture quality is decent (though nothing special) and in widescreen format. Sound is fine and the subtitles (at least the English ones) seems to follow the French reasonably well.
  
  Recommended.
  Score: 4