Hangdog

Hangdog, the cinematic debut from director Matt Cascella, which his wife, Jen Cordary, wrote (from a story by Cascella), is an independent comedy-drama. This mundane tale of anxiety, depression, and redemption is very high in quirkiness and low in charisma, all the while struggling to find a consistent tone throughout. The story opens with Walt (Desmin Borges) and Wendy (Kelly O’Sullivan) adjusting to life in Maine after Wendy’s father suffers a heart attack.

Walt is a miserable, jobless slacker who is still trying to find out what he wants to do with his life, while Wendy has become very successful. When Wendy has to take off for a business trip to New York City, she tasks the brooding and depressed Walt with taking care of her dog, Tony, while she is gone. On his way to pick up dog food, Walt foolishly ties Tony to a pole to get some weed at the local dispensary. When he comes out, Tony is nowhere to be found, leading Walt on a hunt for clues across the city, all the while meeting a vast array of characters in his journey of self-discovery and reflection.

In movies like Hangdog, there is no need for plot subversion because of how parallel the script is to its linear timeline. With the simple premise of following Walt as he stumbles through a series of comically ignorant decisions, the film rests its laurels on the appeal of actor Desmin Borges to carry the movie.

“On his way to pick up dog food, Walt foolishly ties Tony to a pole to get some weed at the local dispensary. When he comes out, Tony is nowhere to be found…”

Though the audience is in some way supposed to empathize with Walt, he is presented as nothing more than a useless, whiny loser who makes you want to reach through your screen and punch him so he will stop complaining the entire 90-minute run time. At times, it feels like Walt’s neurotic character is an equal mix of Woody Allen and Eeyore, the stuffed donkey. When a cast of minor characters is more interesting than the protagonist, you begin to wish that you were watching a movie about any of them instead.

The editing and cinematography are almost pitch-perfect in the way the drab, colorless northern Atlantic skyline adds to the uneasiness and demure that represents Walt’s demeanor. The score is confusing, as the story attempts to emulate Walt’s anxiety with an upbeat, jovial soundtrack that never allows the tone of the movie to find its place and sometimes overtakes the natural sounds around him.

The overall point of Hangdog is that mental health is extremely important and when things get tough, it takes true character to rise above it all. However, this is the story of a pathetic man-child who cannot seem to get his life together, then the audience has to watch this directionless idiot find his girlfriend’s dog. If that sounds like your kind of movie, then this one is definitely made for you.