Customer Reviews

Fluke

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This extremely touching film is adapted from James Herbert's novel about a man who is reincarnated as a dog. His quest to find his human family is plagued with mystery, including the fact that he must unravel the story of his old business partner. Only when he remembers what truly happened between the two of them on the night of his death does "Fluke" realize how he must let his family know who he is and set things right.

This movie is highly emotional and definitely a tear-jerker. I cry almost every time I watch it, at multiple parts; and I am not normally one to cry at movies. Although grossly underrated, this movie has one of the most beautiful soundtracks I have ever heard. Just listen to the music in the background throughout the entire movie; it's magical! Slightly eerie, this film is for anyone who loves animals, mysteries, the supernatural, or just a really good film.

The scene in which Fluke "tells" his wife who he is in the cemetery, before his grave, is particularly poignant. (I tell ya, if that lady doesn't get it by that point, she's thick!)

I am very pleased and quite proud to include my own
heartfelt recommendation of this wonderful film here.

It is particularly gratifying to know there are so
many others who were similarly inspired by FLUKE to
give it such a well-deserved approval rating
with Amazon.com. The best audience is one which, in
spite of the opinion of "experts", recognizes excellence
all on its own. It makes the appreciation even deeper.

Here is a movie cult I am happy to be a member of
(though I do wish my friends, in their enthusiam,
had not given away so much of the story to those
of you who have not yet discovered it for yourselves yet!)

Excellent cinematography, sensitive score, nicely modulated
acting, judiciously paced for children and adults alike.
This is that rare "family" film that rewards everyone, and
can be viewed many times without inspiring boredom.

FLUKE earns its emotions honestly. I admire and respect
every animal - and person - involved in making this story work
as well as it does. It haunts the memory with a mixture of
feelings - most of all, that of great fondness for the
purity of its moral.

Absolutely one of the best movies I have ever seen. I saw it first in 1995 on video, I believe. Never saw it or heard of it on the big screen. Anyway, it's proof positive that a great directorial job, with actors (human and animal) who believe in a story about real human failings, lightheartedness and heroics can turn a pretty good screenplay with wonderfully charming dogs into one with a real impact on your life. I had to see it again a couple of years later just to make sure it was as good as I thought. It deals with real suffering (including death, revenge, and anger) and then redemption. Don't look for the classic happy ending, but an ending which is consistent with the themes in the movie and is very satisfying, after a little thought. The movie completely pulls you in (without your realizing it) and works its magic on your mind. But, don't expect it to be powerful though you will notice tears forming frequently throughout the movie, often unexplained at first. "Fluke" also seemed to leave me a little wiser and more understanding and compassionate toward my family, especially. I sort of got it the next day! And, you will love "Fluke", the dog! The movie is about a dog, but it's really about so much more. Even though the dog scenes are great, the subject matter at times is rather charged and there is violence and death (human and animal), so please be prepared to talk about it with your kids if they watch it with you.

Man reincarnated as homeless dog sounds like a typical Hollywood plotline for a mediocre comedy, but Fluke is a beautiful film about love, friendship and spiritual truths. Fluke, a homeless puppy, learns about life through a series of touching relationships with humans and animals. The scenes are not always Disney-like sweet, but are always filled with emotion. As he grows, Fluke's mind is bothered by periodic visions of a human life and the people he loved in that life. His animal instinct is that they are now in trouble and he begins his search to find them. Once reunited, both Fluke and his old family begin to learn spiritual lessons about life and love. Very touching film, for dog and people lovers. Beautifully directed and photographed as well, this film is a little known gem.

Fluke (Carlo Carlei, 1995)

There is book, and there is film. And every once in a while, there are book and film that are utterly unlike one another, and yet both are brilliant. Perhaps the best-known example of this phenomenon is Stephen King's novel and Tobe Hooper's TV miniseries 'Salem's Lot, which bear at best a passing resemblance as narrated by a gallon drunk. Fluke comes off the same way, and despite Carlei's ham-handedness, this movie works.

First, you have to realize this movie is based on a novel by James Herbert. The phrases "James Herbert" and "family film" are incapable of existing in the same sentence without quotes around them, or some sort of weird dimensional rift will open in the Universe, and the things that come through will eat all humanity, but not before subjecting it to weird perverse tortures. (No, they're not Cenobites. The things in James Herbert's imagination eat Cenobites for breakfast and use the nails as toothpicks.) So one has to wonder, as I have for the past ten years, how any movie based on a James Herbert novel could possibly be called a "wonderful family film" by, erm, at least one critic blurbed on the DVD cover. I forget which. Then I remembered 'Salem's Lot, and still had some hope that we might get a good film out of it (film adaptations of James Herbert novels tend to be bloody boring-- they cut out all the good bits to avoid the video nasty laws). Then they attach an unknown writer-director and Matthew Modine, a guy whose career was going nowhere fast in 1995 (though it did pick up again soon after this, and has almost hit its previous level). I got to the point where the only hope I had for this flick lay in Eric Stoltz, whom I have always loved and will always love, no matter how awful the films in which he appears (yes, I even forgave him Anaconda. He needed the money. Honest). So, finally, I got the chance to sit down and actually watch the thing... and it really is wonderful. It bears about as much resemblance to the James Herbert novel upon which it is based as the American all-beef Ball Park bears to its wondrous ancestor the haggis, but as with the scary meat products, each is great in its own way.

Tom Johnson (Modine, recently in Transporter 2) and Jeff Newman (Stoltz, recently of The Butterfly Effect) are partners. In the opening scene, the two of them are racing down a country road. Johnson pulls up alongside Newman's car and tries to get him to pull over so they can talk. Newman ignores him, but Johnson doesn't get too long to try-- he ends up playing chicken with a truck, losing, and going over an embankment to his death. Thanks to the magic of special effects, we see his soul fly off and inhabit an Irish Setter pup. (And through the magic of film, you can get an Irish Setter pup from a mom who looks kind of like a collie mix.) The pup, who eventually becomes the title character, has a series of very nasty adventures early in his life (the first half-hour of this film makes me wonder why anyone called it a family film-- it is relentlessly depressing) before meeting Rumbo (xXx's Samuel L. Jackson), a big Saint Bernard who offers to teach him the ropes. Fluke is unhappy with his life as a dog, however; he has recurring dreams of Newman and his family, and he feels that his family is in danger.

First, the bad things about the movie. Carlei is overly ham-handed with a number of his moral lessons (especially in the final voice-over, which any editor worth his salt should have burned rather than exposing it to the elements). If you're looking at the film as something to watch with the kiddies, you may have an uncomfortable time answering some questions from the younger ones about death and vivisection that are likely to be raised in the opening half-hour of the film. And the kid who voices Fluke-as-pup (Sam Gifaldi of the animated series Hey! Arnold) sounds as if he's reading, woodenly, off a teleprompter. The end, while not actually leaving any loose ends dangling, feels a little frayed. And Nancy Travis' line "...he needs a bath. He's filthy!"is perhaps the most unintentionally funny ever voiced in kids' films; you will never see so well-groomed and well-fed a road dog as Fluke.

The good things: well, the rest of the movie. The opening half-hour, while relentless, has no single scenes that will traumatize a kid any more than some of the stuff Disney put in their animated flicks when we were kids. Modine and Jackson have a great chemistry between them, and when Fluke starts spending most of his time around humans, things ride the line of sappy without ever quite crossing over. Most of all, Lynn Stalmaster, the High King of Casting Directors, made one of the most inspired choices of his career in Eric Stoltz. I can't explain why without ruining the crux of the film, but let's just say it would've been hard to achieve the effect the movie did without Eric Stoltz playing Newman. Perfect, perfect, casting.

Unless you're a diehard James Herbert fan who can't separate Fluke-the-film from Fluke-the-book, you'll probably end up loving this movie despite yourself. Yeah, yeah, the talking animal thing's way overdone. That doesn't mean it can't still be done well now and again. ****

This is a great movie! It'll rip at your heart and make you cry. Once you see this movie, your heart will go out to Fluke, a Chocolate Labrador mix. Fluke really starts out as a man with a family. But when a car wreck kills him, he returns as a dog (Fluke). Through his whole puppyhood, he has flash backs of his human past. A homeless woman takes him in. He later teams up with a Saint Bernard-looking dog named Rumbo. When Fluke tells Rumbo of his intentions, they split up. his a So, he decides to set out in search of his past, to find his family. I do agree with some of the other reveiws. It's not for little kids. 2 people die, a dog dies, there is a labratory that cruel does test on animals, and there are 2 bloody car wrecks. I suggest it is for kids ages 10 and up. Unless you think your kid can handle blood and death. But if you're old enough to understand it and know it's just a movie then it's worth the money. This movie has laughs and tears instore for anyone that watches it. Fluke is played by Comet from T.V's Full House and Rumbo is played by Barney who was also in Homeward Bound 2 as Riley.

just did some searching over the internet b/c i wondered why fluke was so little-known....turns out it received lots of scathing reviews either condemning it as too morbid and depressing for little kids OR mocking it as being a stupid, unbelievable movie for overly-sentimental dog lovers. While I don't think this film is too disturbing for older children (I was 10 when I watched it), I can understand why those people who enjoy "thinking," deep, or action movies (i.e. American Beauty, Memento, Matrix) may be bored to tears or find this movie too sentimental. Thus I do not recommend this movie for everyone. To help you if you're undecided, check out a review I felt was fair to the movie...

(written by Richard Scheib)

Fluke (1977) is the most atypical of James Herbert's novels. It's a fantasy about a dog that thinks he is a man, quite different to Herbert's usual run of horror novels, which revel in extreme gore-letting. And a story where the central characters are canines, not humans, it is certainly an unusual choice for a film property. There is the sense that the film has been packaged as a high concept film - sort of Ghost (1990) meets Benji (1974), or a straight version of Oh Heavenly Dog (1980). And such a choice may well have been born out by Fluke's commercial reception - it doing no business at all in theatres and being released straight onto video in most countries.

Which is a shame as Fluke is quite a beautiful film and undeservous of such a poor reception. It evokes that same sense of fairy-tale caught between warmth and heartfelt tragedy that E.T.- The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and all the great Disney films do. Every shot is beautifully photographed. (Considering the difficulty of shooting with animals, the amount of effort required to get such exquisite shots must have been incredibly effort intensive). Director Carlo Carlei invests real warmth in the scenes between Fluke and Rumbo and Fluke frolicking with the young Max Pomeranc. The opening scenes with Fluke being born, the capture of he and his family by the dog pound, the escape from the pound, all shot down at floor level, are conducted completely wordlessly and do a wonderful job in showing things from a dog's point-of-view. And of course the ending is genuinely touching. The only scene that does not work is the breakout from the laboratory which involves animals conducting very un-animal-like behaviour - Rumbo willfully smashing through a window, having the intelligence to hit a release button, and the rest of the laboratory animals conducting such collective behaviour as fleeing toward the window and carrying other animals out with them. Herbert's book has been changed somewhat - the location moved from the UK to the US, the names of the characters changed, and the hero's daughter in the book becoming the hero's son in the film. Nevertheless the film works quite beautifully.

Copyright Richard Scheib 1996

When I first saw Fluke I was living overseas in Rome, Italy, so I had to watch the movie in Italian (now even though I was born there, I was like 5 so I had no idea what they were saying, wasn't fluent in the language yet). I remember only paying attention to the animals, especially the dogs, and the things he was doing. A couple years later (once back in america), I was browsing through a rack in a video store and I came across Fluke. I rented it again with no hesitation to see what the story line was really about. It was the saddest, but most wonderful movie I had ever seen...again. The story line was great and well put together. It was also very creative and not like every other movie one might see. I reccommend this movie to anyone and everyone! Dog lovers, squirrel lovers, monkey lovers, or just anyone who likes a good movie!

By far one of my favorite movies when I was little, I was delighted to finally perch my DVD copy of "Fluke" in my movie library. Ever since the lines began to echo in my head ("Well, he's MY little fluke"), I've known my purchase of the flick was imminent. It is, truly, a touching, poignant, and haunting film that tells of loss, betrayal, realization, and redemption on one side, and forgiveness, resilience, and pure, simple understanding on the other. It is about learning to live your life, and learning to pick yourself up again. It's told through the eyes of a dog, but it transcends that.

My main complaint is that the movie can't make up its mind whether to be a romping family film (just watch the theatrical trailer; they cut out the whole "reincarnation" bit and sell it as a kiddie flick) or a full-fledged drama. As a result, the integrity of the film suffers, which is a true shame. As a kid, I loved the lighter bits which I, now older, view as the movie's main pratfall. It also tends to fall into a by-the-numbers rut in the first few sequences, (slight spoiler ahead) such as when the pup Fluke ends up in the pound and the horrible, mean people at the HUMANE SOCIETY whine about his constant barking and schedule him for a euthanasia. (As if a puppy would be put down for barking.) Clearly, this scene seeks to scold anyone who doesn't want dogs running free on the streets. An ideal I applauded a few years ago, but now I must view more realistically. If the producers had allowed the film to launch into a truly moving drama, perhaps "Fluke" would have gained a larger audience. Instead, it may leave the kids wandering off after the first half, and the adults fast-forwarding to the later half.

The decision is yours to make, depending on your age, but my guess is most of you will fall in love with this unique story of redemption and understanding.

Wow. This movie touched and inspired me. We rented it thinking "Why not? It's about a cute little puppy." Well this is beyond your average "cute little puppy" movie. We don't believe in reincarnation, but I just overlooked it to see the story behind. I was crying at the end. The score was brilliantly put together, the cast was superb, and altogether it made the touching film Fluke. I would recommend this to anyone. Although it might be a little confusing for young children.