[yasr_overall_rating]
A dachshund passes from oddball owner to oddball owner, whose radically dysfunctional lives are all impacted by the pooch.
Dog lovers beware. While Todd Solondz’s new film is a great picture about the positive effects dogs can have on their owners, it’s also a great film about the negative effects owners can have on their dogs. The story follows a woe begotten Dachshund as she weaves into and out of the lives of four groups of people. One is a family of three where father Danny (Tracy Letts) buys the dog from a pet store for his son (Charlie Tahan) to the consternation of his wife Dina (Julie Delpy). After a near fatal mishap for the dog, veterinarian aid Dawn Wiener (Greta Gerwig) steals off with the pooch, along with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brandon (Keiran Culkin). A short series of events later finds the canine heroine in the hands of burnt out, frustrated film professor Dave Schmerz (Danny DeVito). Finally our famed wiener dog ends up in the care of elderly woman Nana, who gives her the life affirming name “Cancer.” Each of these stories leads inevitably to new and interesting takes on the human condition.
Every performer has their moment to shine. Letts plays the arrogant father of his clan well. It’s clear he thinks his young son a disappointment, and buys the dog to show the kiddo how to the take responsibility. What he doesn’t count on, perhaps because he is too adult himself, is his son’s connection to the dog becomes more playful and interesting than responsible. Delpy gets some of the funniest and most cringe-worthy lines as she tries to explain what it means to be “spayed.” Her convoluted explanation turned into just another bit of Islamaphobic fear-mongering. Gerwig plays Dawn as mousy, but determined to make a new life for herself and her dog. DeVito’s fantastic acting saves his portion of the film. It’s a section that seems a little out of place. It drags a little, is made up entirely of negative, fairly unsympathetic characters and concludes with the ultimate cry for attention in this day and age. Festivities conclude with a vignette featuring Burstyn at her crotchety finest. She gets a visit from her granddaughter, whose boyfriend is an “artist” with an off putting bit of self absorbed arrogance. Once the granddaughter exits the scene, things get really weird.
As director Solondz said, “The dog is a concept. The film is really about death.” And true to form, death and danger in one form or another hang over the picture throughout. Solondz directs his own script, probably because he best understands his own ideas. In it he weaves some very complex ideas into a simple story and leaves the audience wanting to go back and watch again to catch what it is they have missed. The humor ranges from razor sharp satire to laugh out loud funny, and often you find yourself laughing, then going back a minute later saying, “Wait a minute! He’s talking about me.” I find this the hallmark of great writing and satire, where sometimes you’re the target and you don’t even realize it. Americans in general, well people in general, will see themselves in the various characters on display here. Some will like what they see, some won’t.
Solondz does a masterful job weaving these stories together seamlessly with a tremendous amount of heart to go along with incisive commentary. Even the most bitter characters garner our sympathy because they are as lost and looking for connections as we seem to be.
In select theaters Friday, July 1st
