Things I noticed in hindsight

Awesome. I did not think about digging under the fence, that is a great one. Two more...

- The reason the Vet's dogs were in cages were so they wouldn't eat each other, or develop into a pack (as Rey's brother Henry and the other criminals were).
- Eric had come to this point in his life as a soldier in service, farmer in occupation, husband in bonds of love, Australian in nationality, and discovered he was betrayed by his military, economy, wife and country. The only thing loyal in his life was his dog.

Rey displayed a puppy-like behavior and Eric started appreciating that. His brother and mates had abandoned him, they had shown no loyalty so their life didn't have importance to Eric.

From an earlier post on this board:

I attended the Q&A with Michod and Pattinson at the Arclight in Hollywood last week and asked a question similar to the themes being discussed here. Specifically I asked if Rey, upon showing his loyalty to Eric (namely in two instances - killing the 'cops' and choosing him over Henry) essentially became like Eric's puppy dog - since dog's were the only evidence that some humanity remained in Eric.

As many of you have noted - dogs were a 'theme' in this film, and if Eric hadn't viewed him this way, he simply would have left when he got the car back.

Michod almost jumped out of his seat, said that it was a great interpretation of the film, Pattinson smiled and the moderator was pretty taken aback by the insight. Point being, I think many of you are onto the underlying theme of the film and am glad you enjoyed it.

How about the name of the movie: Rover, a name for a dog. Just another subtle reference.

that raggedy truck Rover drove was a dog. why didn't he
borrow one of those HumVees?

Gordon has a real hang-dog look first thing in the morning.

I think you are onto something there.

Just thought if something else. Dogs are faithful. His wife wasn't. Probably why he cared so much