Little Q, a yellow lab with a curious birthmark, is training to become a guide dog for the blind. When his training is complete, Little Q is sent to help Lee Bo Ting, a famous, recently blinded chef. Irritable and bitter, Bo Ting is at first reluctant to rely on Little Q and even tries to drive him away several times. But through his loyalty, Little Q eventually teaches Bo Ting how to trust again, opening him up to a new life of wonderful possibilities.
A young pup named Q is trained to become a guide dog for the visually impaired. He is first fostered by a little girl, Chan Zhiqiao (Angela Yuen), and her family. She does not want to give up Q when his training is complete. But nonetheless, it happens, and Q is paired with an embittered old man named Mr. Lee (Simon Yam), who is blind.
Mr. Lee really does not even want a guide dog. He is so despondent about his condition, he even pushes Q away multiple times. Q, however, is a loyal dog, and he sticks with Mr. Lee through hard times.
After Q saves Mr. Lee’s life, they are quick to become inseparable. Gone is the embittered old man and now Mr. Lee has a new outlook on life, he is much happier now and is even quick to smile. Chan has not forgotten about Q though and she gets the chance to reunite with him after Mr. Lee suffers from a heart condition.
I like dogs, though I am not a dog lover per se, but I do enjoy their company. However, I am not the biggest fan of dog movies. Mostly because I find them to be manipulative, they purposely choose cute dogs and have some sort of tragic event happen to them.
There is definitely some of that in “Little Q.” At first, Mr. Lee can be a bit too cruel to Q. Not to mention, the story can be overly dramatic. When Chan and Q are forced to say goodbye, there is a shot of little Chan running after her dog, sobbing, as she trips and drops all of her toys.
What I did like about the movie is that it focuses on guide dogs. We do not really see disabilities at the forefront of films very often. Q is an extremely well-trained guide dog and I did not really know what their training process was like. We see a little of that in the film and although I thought Mr. Lee was too mean at the beginning with Q, his struggle to accept his blindness was totally believable, especially since his career as a chef depends on his sight.
Overall, while I thought “Little Q” tried to be a bit too much of a tear-jerker, the film did eventually win me over. I cared about Q and the human characters, I even came around to Mr. Lee, and in the end, that is what matters.
Available on Blu-ray™ August 17th
