Big Red

Wealthy sportsman James Haggin (Walter Pidgeon) lives on a Quebec estate called Wintapi. Émile Fornet (Émile Genest), handler of Haggin's hunting dogs, and Émile's wife Therese (Janette Bertrand), Haggin's cook and housekeeper, live in a separate house on the estate. To start a line of top show dogs, Haggin purchases the winner of the Montreal Kennel Club show, an Irish setter named Red.

It holds some charm, but 'Big Red' is mostly average. Gilles Payant gives a likeable, if wooden, performance as Rene, while Walter Pidgeon adds a touch of elegance to the film as James. Émile Genest and Janette Bertrand are alright, too. The cast I actually like, it's just the plot and how it is told that hampers the film for me. The onscreen dogs are adorable and their story ends in a cutesy manner, but there's not much more to enjoy past that. It's a very basic premise which is revealed in a very basic way. Nothing necessarily bad, but nothing all that good either. Forgettable, in a word.