{"id":5365,"date":"2014-08-02T07:52:31","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T11:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=5365"},"modified":"2014-08-02T07:59:27","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T11:59:27","slug":"seeing-god-in-the-life-of-a-dog-jeff-bridges-a-real-life-giver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2014\/08\/seeing-god-in-the-life-of-a-dog-jeff-bridges-a-real-life-giver.html","title":{"rendered":"Seeing GOD in the life of a DOG + Jeff Bridges a real-life “Giver”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6fzaTvsYZ7I<\/a>\n

UP TV airs true story Susie’s Hope<\/em> tomorrow (8\/3) at 8:00 PM (ET). <\/strong>Emmanuelle Vaugier (Two and A Half Men, CSY: NY<\/em>)<\/span> stars as Donna Lawrence<\/span>, a\u00a0 Greensboro, NC<\/span> woman and animal lover left with a fear of dogs after barely surviving a ferocious, life-threatening attack by an abused pit bull. But she learns to overcome acquired fear in a most unexpected way \u2013 by adopting and caring for a brutally abused, abandoned pit bull-mix puppy named Susie.\u00a0 Come on, you’re crying already, aren’t you? AREN’T YOU?!! I’m crying just typing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong> In all seriousness, if you’re a dog lover (like me) this one’s sure to touch your heart — particularly the scene when Donna and her close friend Ramona (Andrea Powell) find Susie shaking and alone in a park after someone had beaten the poor puppy (breaking her jaw), set her on fire and left her to die. Even more heartbreaking is the scene where Donna, after learning that it would cost upwards of $17,000 to successfully treat Susie, says goodbye to the frightened animal as the compassionate vet (Willette Thompson of HBO’s The Corner<\/em>) prepares to put her down.\u00a0 Since this scene occurs fairly early on in the film so I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to reveal that Donna finds a way to pay for the procedures necessary to save Susie’s life.\u00a0 What follows is the story of how Donna and Susie help each other heal from their physical and emotional wounds.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

They say no actor likes to costar with a dog because they are apt to, you know, chew the scenery. But the human cast holds its own even opposite Susie (who really knows how to use those eyes to garner sympathy). BTW, someone here should win an award for animal makeup.\u00a0 Anyway, the friendship between Donna and Romona is well played and you can’t help but like Willette Thompson as the kindly vet. Burgess Jenkins (The Shunning, The Heart of Christmas<\/em>) is also very good as Donna’s concerned husband — who understandably, resists the idea of bringing Susie into the house.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The dialogue in the script is extremely natural and believable and, at times, even surprisingly witty. Things becomes especially engrossing when the guy who viciously abused Susie is found and put on trial. In a nice bit of casting, the prosecutor is played by Jon Provost who fans of vintage television will recognize as Timmy from the original Lassie<\/em> series. The case led to the passage of \u201cSusie\u2019s Law,\u201d which strengthened North Carolina\u2019s penalties for animal abuse into a Class H felony.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Special kudos to Jerry Rees who both co-wrote the effective screenplay (with Dan A.R. Kelly) and directed. As a director, he knows how to take an already heart-tugging scene and give it that extra yank that will have you wondering where you last placed that box of Kleenex. Also, those Susie POV shots were a really nice touch. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you watch Susie’s Hope<\/em>. Highly recommended.<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. The real Donna and Susie have worked to overcome their mutual traumatic experiences to inspire and minister to others (human and canine).\u00a0 Donna and Susie visit schools, nursing homes, churches, burn centers and organizations, and attend pet adoption fairs and fundraisers to motivate and educate people surrounding animal cruelty.\u00a0 Captivating the hearts of those that learn of Susie\u2019s story, Susie was recently recognized as the 2014 Therapy Dog winner for The American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards. The commendable recognition has placed Susie in the national finals (as one of the eight finalist contenders) of the 2014 American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards.\u00a0 <\/b>To vote for Susie click here<\/a>. <\/span>Voting ends Monday, September 15, 2014 at 12 p.m. EST<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information about Susie\u2019s Hope, thenon-profit organization which promotes education and awareness of the care and responsibility required in owning pets as well as animal safety around unfamiliar animals click here<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

____<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Jeff Bridges honored.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>At a Spago luncheon on Friday, the conversation touched upon moviegoing demographics, the new film \u201cThe Giver<\/a>\u201d and the importance of branding \u2014 but the key talking point was solutions to hunger.<\/em><\/p>\n

AARP threw the event to honor Jeff Bridges, the cover subject of the org\u2019s August\/September issue. The story is tied to the Weinstein Co.\u2019s Aug. 15 release of \u201cThe Giver,\u201d which AARP Media SVP-editorial director Myrna Blyth described as being based on a YA novel but focused on \u201cthe wisdom of age.\u201d She also talked about the new alliance between AARP Foundation\u2019s end-hunger program and No Kid Hungry, which Bridges has been championing for 20 years. The former is focused on needy seniors, while the latter focuses on children; the two have come up with programs to help both…Jeff Bridges told Variety he\u2019s very proud of \u201cGiver\u201d \u2014 he has a producer credit on the film \u2014 and he was also eager to talk about the work of No Kid Hungry, including a summer-meals program (people can text Food to 877-877 to find the nearest site). <\/em>(More at Variety<\/a>)<\/p>\n

It’s always nice to see someone who is doing well also taking the time to do good.<\/p>\n

BTW, I’m really looking forward to The Giver<\/em>.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iJNNugNe0Wo<\/a>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. UP TV airs true story Susie’s Hope tomorrow (8\/3) at 8:00 PM (ET). Emmanuelle Vaugier (Two and A Half Men, CSY: NY) stars as Donna Lawrence, a\u00a0 Greensboro, NC woman and animal lover left with a fear of dogs after barely surviving a ferocious,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7150,13,1085,1591,24,31],"tags":[35,7165,7168,7167,7163,7155,7157,7153,7161,7154,7152,7044,7160,7158,7164,7151,7159,7162,7043,3385,5130,2099,7166,7156],"class_list":["post-5365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals","category-family-matters","category-forgiveness","category-good-works","category-movies","category-television","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-aarp","tag-aarp-foundations-end-hunger-program-and-no-kid-hungry","tag-aarp-media-svp-editorial-director-myrna-blyth","tag-american-humane-association-hero-dog-awards","tag-andrea-powell","tag-burgess-jenkins-the-shunning","tag-csy-ny","tag-dan-a-r-kelly","tag-donna-lawrence","tag-emmanuelle-vaugier-two-and-a-half-men","tag-jeff-bridges","tag-jerry-rees","tag-jon-provost","tag-spago","tag-susies-hope","tag-susies-law","tag-the-american-humane-association-hero-dog-awards","tag-the-giver","tag-the-heart-of-christmas","tag-up-tv","tag-variety","tag-weinstein-co","tag-willette-thompson-of-hbos-the-corner"],"yoast_head":"\nSeeing GOD in the life of a DOG + Jeff Bridges a real-life "Giver"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2014\/08\/seeing-god-in-the-life-of-a-dog-jeff-bridges-a-real-life-giver.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seeing GOD in the life of a DOG + Jeff Bridges a real-life "Giver"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. 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He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. 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