“A Dog’s Purpose” (PG)

Although it’s not as good as Marley and Me,” there are still plenty of reasons to love “A Dog’s Purpose,” that is as long as you’re a dog-lover.

The movie follows a dog’s soul as it travels from canine to canine and different owners, and over its lifetimes, the four-legged friend tries to figure out its purpose in life. Josh Gad tells the story from a dog’s point-of-view, and the result is funny, heartwarming, if not very sad tale (or tail?) as each of the four-legged friends passes on, only to be born again in another dog’s body.

The film has an old-fashioned family movie feel to it with an edge, though, as some of the dog’s owners are good, naturally, some not so good. Get ready to cry – a lot.

Dennis Quaid brings weight to the human side of the film opposite “The Mod Squad” TV great Peggy Lipton, while K.J. Apa and Britt Robertson are wonderful as the younger versions of their characters. The true stars of the film, though, are a Golden Retriever, a German Shepherd, a Welsh Corgi and what appears to be a St. Bernard that share the soul voiced by Gad.

Lammometer rating: 8 out of 10

Click the audio player below to hear Tim’s reviews of “Gold” and “A Dog’s Purpose” with Tom Barnard on KQRS-FM.

“Gold” (R)

Another one of those “inspired by true events” movies, you’ll have to dig deep to find any nuggets of the true story behind “Gold,” a smart cautionary tale about the power of, well, gold.

Matthew McConaughey is brilliant as a down-on-his luck head of a small mining company who follows his dream to the uncharted jungles of Indonesia to mine for gold, and along with a perceptive geologist (Edgar Ramirez), he unearths the largest gold strike in history.

Of course, once he does so, he attracts Wall Street and a bunch of other sharks, because gold turns people into fools. The film isn’t perfect, but it does have some smart twists. The film boasts a terrific ensemble, including Bryce Dallas Howard, Stacey Keach, Craig T. Nelson and Bruce Greenwood.

Lammometer: 7 out of 10