A good Indie comedy about a man with anxiety and a missing dog.
In the independent circuit (and this one is streaming on AppleTV+ and Amazon Prime Video), there are some good reasons why I shouldn’t be so hard on “Hangdog,” and I’m not going to use the “appreciate the little things: reasons, as music as I usually do.
Its small cast includes Kelly O’Sullivan, who wrote and acted in “Saint Frances” and wrote and directed “Ghostlight.” And according to those movies, I think she has the voice, scripts, and ability to win us over, and I haven’t seen her star in or make a bad film yet.
The story takes place in Portland, Maine. I’ve visited that place twice in my life, and I would love to go back to it. And in this movie, I’m able to see some familiar spots. I mean I can’t always praise movies with places I’ve been to or live by, but I don’t often hear Portland, Maine in movies.
And I have mentioned before that I’ve become a dog person ever since being an uncle to my sister’s dogs Kona and Remy. Dogs have feelings too, and the more I got to know those dogs, the more sentimental I have felt for them.
What would I expect from watching “Hangdog?” That it would reflect on life and how things can or can’t work out? That there would be characters trying to deal with their own problems, and how it could affect a relationship? And that it would use its humor as a sign of honesty within their lives? I guess I could.
Written by husband and wife filmmakers Matt Cascella (the director) and Jen Cordery, we meet Walt (Desmin Borges, currently on “Only Murders in the Building”) and his girlfriend Wendy (O’Sullivan), who both just moved to Portland, following a near tragedy. The guy has anxiety and can barely find happiness in his new environment, while the woman asks him to marry him, which leaves him conflicted.
Wendy off on a trip to New York for a job opportunity, and Walt must watch over their dog Tony. Unfortunately, when they go buy some dog food, Walt ties the dog to a pole so he can buy some weed, only to find him stolen. So, he must keep this a secret from Wendy, while meeting new faces-good and bad-and doing whatever it takes to find Tony.
New faces consist of Marianne (Barbara Rosenblatt), who is an artist and a swimmer with a “Zero Fs” message, while Peaks Island residents consist of a troubled teen named Mikey (Nicholas Zoto), his mom Buffy (Catherine Curtin, just seen in “Saturday Night”), and their artisanal pickle businessman neighbor Brent (Steve Coulter from “Oppenheimer”).
“Hangdog” isn’t a perfect movie regarding its pacing, which isn’t all that consistent, but it is a good one that likes to talk about Walt’s negativity as well as his commitment to finding the dog. We have to let Wendy try to figure him out, and we have to try to figure him out as well. It chooses not to be a run-of-the-mill missing dog movie, but rather how someone would really react to the situation. Losing dogs is no laughing matter, but this movie, at least, wants to liven things up a bit.
Borges and O’Sullivan are both entertaining within their chemistry, while Borges respectively uses the right tone and attitude to merge with his character. And Rosenblatt offers the right kind of wisecracks and insights to make Marianne meaningful. We do get characters who are jerks for no reason in some movies (I won’t say what), but this lady isn’t a jerk. Just give her a scene with Walt, and you’ll get to know her.
I guess a still soft for this movie over my affection for dogs, Maine, and O’Sullivan, and maybe that’s a good thing.
Streaming on AppleTV+ and Amazon Prime Video
