Our entire family loved this movie and I think any dog lover will appreciate it. At first I was skeptical of another talking dog movie but they did a great job. The acting isn't academy award stuff but the dog is the star of the film. We all waited for this horrific sad ending but it isn't like that at all. You should leave with a good feeling is all I can say without ruining the film for anyone. We did not read the book and we are golden retriever owners. In my opinion it's a great family movie which we don't get a lot of anymore.