777 Charlie Movie Review - An enjoyable story about a man and his dog held back by a tiring and melodramatic second half

Movies that have animals in the lead have a shortcut to forming an emotional connection with the audience, especially if you are an animal lover. I am such a person, and a movie like 777 Charlie should have left us happy but it does not. In the end, the movie is a letdown.

While many movies, especially the ones with a dog in the lead like Marley and Me, A Dog's Purpose, and Togo tend to pull on the heartstrings of the audience by putting the animal and its owner through a tough situation, and when it is written well and executed properly they help elevate the movie.

However, when it is done just to make the audience feel sad for the sake of feeling sad, it feels cheap. That is what director Kiranraj K. has done with the second half of the movie.

777 Charlie is about the bond between Dharma (played by Rakshit Shetty ), a loner and his dog, and how his life changes after taking in a stray dog called Charlie. The first half of the movie, while familiar, is enjoyable and really exciting for what they were setting up in the second half.

Rakshit and his co-star Charlie are great to see on-screen and they share relatable and believable chemistry. The humor also holds up despite some lackluster line delivery from the supporting cast.

The music by Nobin Paul feels familiar to the soundtrack of a lot of other dog-based movies but, nonetheless, gets the job done and doesn't outstay its welcome.

The problems for the movie start in its second half when the movie turns into a road trip by Dharma and Charlie across the country on his motorcycle. While it started out well enough, pretty soon director- Kiranraj. K, who also wrote the screenplay, decides to pad the runtime of the movie by putting the pair through a series of traumatic incidents.

While such situations are common for movies like this, here it does not work. Mainly because the issues faced by Dharma and Charlie on their road trip seem to be easily solvable. An example of this is when Dharma runs out of money towards the end of his journey and we see him and his dog struggling to reach their destination.

That entire plot about money felt shoehorned in. Throughout their journey, they meet people who have supported them. All it would take for Dharma is to make one phone call and this problem would get solved but he does not, why? It's because his cell phone has no charge, and he can't even be bothered to recharge his phone and so, instead, he tries to sell it to buy food.

There are situations like this in the second half that are so lazily thrown in just for melodrama. And, in the end, it hurts the movie as a whole and only takes away from those genuine and tender moments between Dharma and Charlie.

So, 777 Charlie starts out swinging but in the end, is a letdown.