Rescued By Ruby review by Bobby Blakey
Grant Gustin has been spending his last seven seasons racing through Central City saving the world as The Flash alongside his team of heroes. In his latest film, Rescued By Ruby he is teaming up with a new partner of the canine variety to take on this true story. The film co-stars Scott Wolf, Kaylah Zander, Camille Sullivan and Tom McBeath from Poison Ivy and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase director Katt Shea. Could this film bring the true inspirational story to life or will it just chase its tail?
Rescued By Ruby follows State trooper Dan who dreams of joining the K-9 Search & Rescue team, but no one will give him the chance. Shelter dog Ruby dreams of having a home, but is running out of hope. When fate brings Dan and Ruby together, it's their unshakable bond that helps them face their toughest challenge yet.
After seeing the first trailer for this film I dug the premise which we have seen in some form a hundred times over, but it also felt like it was going to have that Lifetime Channel movie vibe. While this is still the case after seeing the film there is a bit more to it that makes it work a lot better than I had expected. The film brings in all the usual tropes to this type of man and dog story, but being based on a true story made it a bit more interesting in the direction it is heading.
Sure it isn’t hard to figure out what is going to happen and where the story is going, but the journey is crafted well enough to entertain. Gustin is all in and looks to really be enjoying this different type of role of someone who isn’t a superhero, but is still reaching for that level in life. This is not just the story of him working with this dog, but about the two of them overcoming
not just their own issues, but what others think of them to try and succeed. It shines a light on a lot of varying things people deal with while never being preachy or taking away from the main story arc.
Ruby, played to perfection by two dogs, Bear and Shiloh is a character all its own. He brings all the chaos, love, laughs, fun and stress that anyone that has ever owned a new high energy dog knows all too well. I was instantly connecting with these issues that paralleled a dog we just adopted over a year ago ourselves. Gustin and the dogs known as Ruby have great on screen chemistry and it helps to do this story justice.
In the end this film isn’t breaking down any barriers in the genre and never fully steps outside of the TV fare, but still delivers everything you could want or expect in this type of film. Decide for yourself and check out Rescued By Ruby streaming now exclusively on Netflix.