Synopsis
The story is centered on a Golden Retriever puppy named Fluke (voiced by Sam Gifaldi), who has flashing memories and dreams of a human life. After being taken to a pound and eventually escaping from it, he is raised by an elderly homeless woman named Bella (Collin Wilcox Paxton), who gives him the name Fluke, stating that he is "a fluke by nature, and by name."
After Bella dies of an illness caused by poor conditions, he befriends a street-wise St. Bernard-like dog named Rumbo (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson). During this time he matures into an adult dog (now voiced by Matthew Modine) and he eventually realizes that he used to be a workaholic named Thomas P. Johnson (also portrayed by Matthew Modine), who died in a car crash.
Fluke is then abducted by a man named Sylvester (Ron Perlman) to be used in animal experiments at a cosmetics company. During the tests, Rumbo comes to the rescue, however Rumbo is shot by Sylvester, as he and Fluke escape. A dying Rumbo tells Fluke that the black-and-white snapshot of a man, in a sailor suit was him. He also states that when he was a human, Bert (Bill Cobbs) (a man who feeds Fluke and Rumbo) was his brother and that he wishes to smell the sea again, suggesting that he died in the line of duty.
After Rumbo's death, Fluke seeks out his wife (Nancy Travis) and son (Max Pomeranc) and reunites with them as their dog. Fluke tries to show them who he used to be, at the same time suspecting that his human death was caused by his former business partner Jeff Newman (Eric Stoltz). 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.
However, 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. Fluke finally manages to point out to his wife who he really is (by digging away the snow covering his tomb stone and pointing out the word "forever" at the bottom, something that in life, he had often said to his wife). With a heavy heart, he decides it's better to move on; the man he used to be is dead and gone. So he leaves his family, never seeing them again. He realizes that life is simply meant to be cherished, regardless of how one lives it.
Far away, Fluke is resting under a tree by himself. To his surprise, he encounters Rumbo, who is now reincarnated as a squirrel.
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