--- title: "Hachi: A Dog's Tale: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/hachi-a-dogs-tale/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/hachi-a-dogs-tale" critics_score: 59 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009): what the critics said Critics' score 59 from 7 reviews: 2 positive, 4 mixed, 1 negative. The reviews lean towards a mixed response, with broad recognition that Hachi: A Dog’s Tale can move an audience, particularly one fond of dogs. Praise centres on the gently handled bond between man and animal and Lasse Hallström’s restrained direction. The warmer notices find tenderness rather than cheap sentiment: Radio Times considers Richard Gere well cast, while Empire praises the underplayed relationship and the film’s effectiveness as a tearjerker. The divide is over how carefully that emotion is earned. Several critics find the treatment sensitive, but others see calculated sentiment, repetition and thin human drama. Variety questions the lack of a substantial human story, while The Independent is markedly harsher, finding the family and small-town scenes unconvincing and the piano score irritating. The spread is wide: what supporters regard as simplicity and restraint, detractors find bland or commercially calculated. ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 March 2010. The critic praises the film as an effective tear-jerker that avoids irritating schmaltz. They single out the underplayed man-and-dog romance and Hallström’s assured direction for praise. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hachi-dog-tale-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 June 2009. Festival review. The film is no masterpiece but delivers as a reliable tearjerker sure to win over family audiences with its story of canine loyalty. It singles out the final moments as absolutely devastating and praises the dog's star presence along with the score's enhancement of poignancy. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hachiko-dogs-story-film-review-93273/) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2013. The critic calls the story extraordinary and touching but notes it is told with too commercial an eye. They single out the calculated sentiment and box-office focus for mild complaint. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/its-a-dogs-life-for-richard-gere-in-hachi-7419026.html) ## Radio Times — Trevor Johnston Rating 3/5. A lovely family drama inspired by a famous true-life case of canine devotion, with Richard Gere well cast as the music professor who takes in the Akita puppy. Director Lasse Hallström avoids cheap sentiment, treating the bond between man and dog with tender gravitas so that subsequent events prove moving rather than manipulative. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-hdxrdf/hachi-a-dogs-tale/) ## Time Out — Derek Adams Rating 3/5. 9 March 2010. Lasse Hallström’s unfussy film, transplanted to contemporary New England, tells the moving true story of a faithful Akita who waits nearly a decade at a railway station after his owner dies. Sensitively directed and rarely over-sentimental, it will likely ravish dog lovers while also addressing the emotional fallout of death. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hachi-a-dogs-tale) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 12 March 2010. The critic finds the film bland beyond endurance and dismisses it as mush. They single out the unconvincing family and small-town scenes, along with the irritating piano score, for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/hachi-a-dog-s-tale-u-1920054.html) ## The Guardian — Cath Clarke 11 March 2010. Lasse Hallström serves up classy mediocrity in this straightforward story of canine loyalty. The film offers gentle observations on grief and pets that will likely move viewers to tears of boredom or emotion. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/mar/11/hachi-a-dogs-tale-review) ## The Times — Wendy Ide 12 March 2010. The film is a Greyfriars Bobby-type tale of canine devotion that undermines what is left of director Lasse Hallström’s reputation and confirms him as the Hallmark greeting card of movie-makers. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/asia-travel/japan/hachi-a-dogs-tale-wvbgb7t5cxq) ## Variety — Alissa Simon 14 June 2009. Festival review. The film is a sentimental, repetitive tale of a professor bonding with a loyal Akita that harks back to earlier era values. It is a simple tearjerker demonstrating unconditional love but lacks dramatic human story. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2009/film/reviews/hachi-a-dog-s-story-1200475161/) ## Digital Spy — Simon Reynolds Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 10 March 2010. The film offers gentle sweetness and the dog's enduring cuteness that will appeal to dog lovers and younger viewers, with an unusual focus on a dog's grief after loss. It drags in places with workmanlike direction and some hilariously bad scenes, though it is better than many recent canine films. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a207809/hachi-a-dogs-tale/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/hachi-a-dogs-tale.md