Jason Wood is someone who Rausch has described as "a forgotten person, a convicted felon and former drug addict who spent 10 years in jail and, despite his struggle to help those in need, can’t find a job to get by". His dog, Oden, has cancer and is in a lot of pain, and the difficult decision is made to put Oden to sleep.
Via the narrative audio, Wood gives an insight to his life with Oden and to who Oden was - a kind face, a good listener, a shoulder to cry on, not just for Wood, but for his friends. It's clear that Oden was there for Wood in some dark times, showing the unwavering loyalty that dogs are so well known for. He says that Oden taught him how to love, something that must've been very important to him after coming out of prison after a long time inside - "I needed to go through what I needed to go through, and he was there the whole way through, from beginning to end, completely unjudgemental. He'd just lie next to me as if it were another day". Oden was a dog who changed not only Wood's life, but his friends too. Wood states that when his friends were having hard times and would come over to his house, he'd get right next to them and wouldn't leave, he says it seems that God had given him a job to look after everyone - "he was all about helping, he was like 'Hey, you're sick on my couch, we're friends!'". Wood said he knew Oden was very ill but kept him alive as it was "my own childish fears of 'I'm gonna miss you, don't go'". He wanted to be tough and just get it over with, but Oden made him soft. Also Wood speaks about spirituality in relation to Oden.
As well as the narrative by Wood, there is also a folk-style background track, similar to the style of Bon Iver, which suits the visuals well.
The visuals are a mix of Wood riding his bike in the rain, and the events that took place on the day Oden was put to sleep. The narrative audio breaks to allow dialogue recorded on-site and on camera, so to speak, to be included and to build the sadness in the film - for example, Wood is on the phone talking about Oden having been in pain, and keeping him alive because he's too scared to say goodbye, Wood's friends saying goodbye to Oden and telling him to "say hi to Jesus for us, he's gonna get you a new leg", and Wood saying goodbye to him as he was being put to sleep. The footage of Wood and his friend Cynthia being emotional at the prospect of him being put to sleep later on that day is particularly upsetting, as it reminds me of when we had to have our Monty put to sleep only three weeks after Pie had died. There is footage taken from inside the vets featuring Wood saying goodbye and the moment when Oden is injected with the medication that will end his life. Wood cycling appears to me to be something that he does more now that Oden is gone as a form of stress relief or something similar.
The camera techniques are mainly handheld and use focus pulling, which is used effectively throughout. The colours of the film are almost of a muted-neutral colour, which is fitting with the overall aesthetic of the film.
I feel that Rausch and his small team showed the relationship between Wood and Oden with honesty - the mix of narrative audio, "location" audio, background music, and the footage of the day Oden was put to sleep create a very intimate look into one man's life which was forever changed by a loving, three-legged dog, and the important bond that people have with their dogs.
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