Years from now when I search my movie memories for the word “sweet,” a brief moment from Dogman should surface. Our “hero,” for lack of a better word, is coerced into being a getaway driver for an alpha and beta male. After the b&e, our omega listens to alpha and beta crow about the details of the heist. Beta confesses, nay brags, that in the course of the robbery, he tossed a yippy chihuahua in the freezer.
Our omega tends dogs for a living in a poor Italian beach villa. When he’s tossed from his apartment, he moves into his kennel. To him, it’s natural. Putting a chihuahua in the freezer does not sit well with omega. So after he drops the alpha and beta off, he returns to the scene of the crime, climbs a drainage pipe up two stories, pokes in through a window for his own b&e, locates the refrigerator, discovers the pup-sicle, and nurses the dog back to health. An otherwise spineless man who has little problem with aiding and abetting draws the line at dog abuse … and he’s willing to risk jail to right his wrong along these lines. Yeah, that’s sweet, and if Dogman had just a few more scenes like this, I might have loved it.
The invertebrate limp noodle of a Dogman is Marcello (Marcello Fonte), not that you’ll think of him in terms other than the titular name of his small business. Small in many senses of the word, Dogman cares for dogs, and that’s about it. He walks, houses, and feeds dogs for a living, but you get the impression he might do it even were there not a payday involved. He has a daughter from a failed marriage, and when he scrapes together enough money from dogsitting and minor thievery, he takes the kid scuba diving. Marcello’s problem is the town’s problem: Simone (Edoardo Pesce). Simone is a hulking Neolithic bruiser of a man with an ugly drug habit, an uglier temper, and ugliest quality of all: a complete and utter a-morality.
Parading about town in a track suit and a motorcycle, Simone only understands his next high. Unlike most drug fiends, however, Simone doesn’t have any appreciation for supply and demand … or gratitude, or, in this very apt case, biting the hand that feeds you. He will happily burn bridges, destroy property, or beat senseless anyone standing between him and his next hit. Real charmer, this bloke … or I guess the term is “paisan.” And the dominant Simone has decided that Dogman is his loyal companion.
Dogman is about the limits of being pushed. How long will Dogman tolerate Simone? It’s hard to gauge Dogman’s feelings exactly; he does appreciate Simone the same way a smaller man will look up to his bully. I suppose their relationship is more complicated than I’ve described (after all, Dogman actually makes sure Simone gets needed medical attention at one point), but really this film seems like one man running roughshod over an entire town and occasionally singling out his li’l Gilligan-like buddy for special abuse. How long until Dogman stops waiting for the town to stop barking and start biting back? I can appreciate the bully tolerance; it’s something every American knows very well at this point – and if Simone never got a comeuppance of sorts, I’d hate this film the way I loathe bullies. That said, I didn’t see a whole lot of meat these dogbones. Dogman is a small film with a likable protagonist and one very nice scene, but not something I’m howling at the moon over.
♪Ciao, bella, come look and see
I’ll walk your pug, sometimes for free
Cuz I’m the Dogman, yeah, I’m the Dogman
Should her ration appear too small
I’ll fill the bowl once and for all
Cuz I’m the Dogman, yeah, I’m the Dogman
If you bring your spitz, I’ll wash his feet
I’ll lather, rinse, and then repeat
I will isolate if she’s in heat
I groom night and day, hey ain’t that neat?♫
Rated R, 103 Minutes
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writer: Ugo Chiti & Matteo Garrone & Massimo Gaudioso
Genre: Finding your threshold
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The local milquetoast
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Thugs
♪ Parody Inspired by “Taxman”
