Hallström starts the story in 1960s America, against the setting of the Cuban rocket emergency, soaking its tacky man’s-closest companion account in wistfulness and shooting blasts of the film from a dog’s-eye-see low point. It’s hard not to be enchanted by the film’s pack of hyperactive, wriggling puppies, yet there’s just such a great amount of time to be spent watching them play before it moves toward becoming eye-wateringly dull. Bailey is given a human voice with which he portrays the story, however is saved any extra humanoid attribution, his inward life guided totally by creature sense. Yes, it’s a child’s film, however by hitting all the enthusiastic beats – and none of the scholarly ones – its exacting title clues at, A Puppy’s Motivation sets the bar for its own existential examination really low.