Synopsis
A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.
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Cast
- Anton GlanzeliusIngemar Johansson
- Tomas von BrömssenIngemar's Uncle Gunnar
- Anki LidénIngemar's Mother
- Melinda KinnamanSaga
- Kicki RundgrenGunnar's Wife Ulla
- Lennart HjulströmThe Artist
- Ing-Marie CarlssonBerit
- Leif EricsonUncle Sandberg
- Christina CarlwindMrs. Sandberg
- Ralph CarlssonHarry
- 100
Variety
An exquisite look at childhood, based loosely on Reidar Jonsson's 1983 novel about a rural-provincial 12-year-old equivalent of J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield - 90
Washington Post
The chemistry between the actors, particularly between Anton and Kinnaman, is sometimes magical. - 90
Time Out
Witty, touching and perceptive as he contrasts the rural village and its strange but generous-hearted eccentrics with the harsher realities of the city, Hallström makes it a seamless mix of tragedy and humour. - 88
Christian Science Monitor
Splendidly acted, and directed with touches of visual poetry by Lasse Hallstr"om, but a little heavy on trite sexual-awakening scenes. - 88
Miami Herald
My Life as a Dog is sad. And sweet. And sublimely funny. It shouldn't be missed. [11 Feb 1987, p.D8] - 75
Slant Magazine
My Life as a Dog and its sublime vision of childhood will always be there to remind us of the filmmaker Hallström once was, and potentially could be again. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Not just another charming film about growing up, but an expertly directed tale that takes a small, simple subject and colors it with invention and inspiration. - 70
The New York Times
The trouble with My Life as a Dog is that too often it imposes an alien sensibility upon the boy, requiring that he behave in a way that adults can too easily identify as charming. My Life as a Dog is a movie with a split point of view.