Fluke (movie)
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Fluke was a 1995 motion picture release about a man who dies in a car crash caused by his business partner and whose soul enters the body of a dog. It was based on a novel by James Herbert and was directed by Carlo Carlei. Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Nancy Travis and Max Pomeranc star as does Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of "Rumbo," a dog that was once in the United States Marine Corps.
Even though it received good reviews, this film performed relatively poorly at the box office, especially for a summer film. Many avid movie-goers regard this film as one of the most underrated in movie history.
Synopsis
The movie is centered on a puppy named Fluke who has flashing memories and dreams of a human life. He befriends a street-wise St.Bernard-like dog named Rumbo and a homeless woman who gives him the name Fluke. During this time he eventually realizes that he used to be human. After Rumbo and his homeless owner both pass away, he seeks out his old family (wife and son) and reunites with them as their dog. Among them, he tries to show them who he used to be, at the same time suspecting that his human death was caused by his business partner, Jeff. It's during his time among them as a dog that he gets to know his family better and bitterly realizes that he was an emotionally distant workaholic.
His stay with them doesn't work out, and he comes close to killing Jeff, but at the last minute has a flashback and realizes that Jeff wasn't involved in his death - his death was caused by his own recklessness. He makes one final attempt to point out to his wife who he really is (by digging away the snow covering his tomb stone and pointing out his name there). With a heavy heart, he decides it's better to move on -- the man he used to be is dead and gone, and so leaves his family, never seeing them again. He also learns that life is simply meant to be cherished, regardless how one lives it.
Far away and months, or possibly years later, Fluke is resting under a tree by himself, where, to his surprise, he encounters Rumbo, who is now reincarnated as a squirrel.