Hangdog focuses on a man’s dream that goes miserable while waits for his girlfriend who is running late for an interview. Set in Portland, Maine, the movie portrays a middle-class struggling thirty-something looking for an edge in the entertainment and tech industry. To some, the movie may fall under the category of cringe-comedy as it makes you squirm to look at the people.
The narrator of this particular movie, unemployed artist Walt, who is portrayed by Desmin Borgers, has a proclivity to make poor or irrational decisions. He is single-minded and selfish completely immersed in his own world while neglecting Tony, a dog, whom he was entrusted with by Wendy, who had planned to go on to work out of town. Instead of keeping Wendy informed, he ends up pretending to have Tony with him while he searches for the dog. With such a strong character, I doubt how the movie manages to convince me that it is actually in Walt’s favor that he has a girlfriend who is caring and put together to the degree that it almost seems to compliment the engrossing character of Wendy, who is portrayed by Kerry O’Sullivan in a more realistic light.
The movie does stop short of selling me the idea of Wendy being ‘better’ with Walt in her life goes without saying considering her character seemed to be interwoven as an alternate reality instead of a fully fleshed-out person. Cecelia O’Sullivan does a commendable job in portraying a character fit for the ‘best’ girlfriend award, effortlessly embodying a traditional ideal woman waiting for her knight in shining armor. Imagine how hard it would be to tell such a couple their talents don’t add up but then again everyone has their own vision and perspectives.
The movie would be intolerable or at least more annoying than enjoyable, however, there are a range of interesting characters which bring life to the story, especially the eccentric Walt or the actors’ performances overall. Considering Walt is a mess, Desmin plays messiness somewhat effectively without giving special attention or hinting at a different persona. Yes, he does highlight Walt as emotional, self-punishing, and depressed, which enables audiences not to detest the character. Despite being a difficult character, it was a remarkable lead performance, and what’s more, he was completely committed to the part with full details. This role is equally sculpted into the larger ensemble of borderline antihero-schmucks, in films such as The Heartbreak Kid, Modern Romance, and The Pallbearer, as well as The work of Noah Baumbach these are characters that many individuals would easily understand and value even if they are not enjoyed in real life.
O’Sullivan’s Wendy works well as either a fully fleshed-out individual as well as a representation of a type. The character is offscreen for the majority of the film, the story arc follows Walt as he tries to fix his horrible gaffe while trying to help her nail down employment with a web-based company that Walt calls the “Etsy of sustainable shopping.” However, you do see enough hyper-specific details to understand her character a little better, she comes off as a nice and goal-oriented high achiever, funny enough, she perhaps sold 624 cookies for saving manatees in Florida when she was just eight. She returned to Portland, her hometown because her dad experienced a heart attack, and then she chose to continue living there even if he had completely recovered.
Regardless of how rude the ultimatum accompanying the word quitting should be, Walt has let down Wendy severely after losing his job. Now the only question remaining is whether Wendy or Walt have any intention to have kids. There is no chance that Walt would make a good father considering his disapproval of Tony taking care of Super Wendy, especially because Tony sleeps with the couple. Those who are children by nature, and Walt’s earnings looking likely to further complicate adults’ parenting lose their jobs.
But largely, Walt’s response to the loss of Tony is a response of a narcissist in another sense: losing Wendy also means losing one of them and such coverage arouses great want. Although as a first dog it is not accurate to say which serves, it takes a while for the whole thing to turn into an American girl doll case as a child. First of all, it is important to know that this does nothing to prevent the humor of “Hangdog”: firstly, it is unimportant for everyone if this character does not necessarily positively act correctly like what is common for its situation as long as it is funny to watch. In the case of Walt’s behavior, we have this case since I have no idea why the film has a serious look at Walt’s actions as his behavior becomes sadder and disturbing.
“Hangdog” is a chilled film meant to be enjoyable. It can be categorized as a mix between a Brooklyn pot dealing routine and the indie comedies of the 90s; two genres this movie seems to stem from. If you loved high maintenance or even the walking & talking series, this movie is sure to appeal to you.
Linklater has been and will always be an underappreciated director, but in combination with “Clerks”, he fuses with the repetitive and chilling lifestyle of the brisk degrading side of Brooklyn.
It is rather profound in its sheer sense of depth because Walt embodies a particular form of American dread and self-loathing. As for his feeling of inadequacy, it surely comes into the picture much later in the storyline. The supporting characters have a healthy amount of substance to them, which enables Cascella and Cordery to build them as the stars in a movie of their own. This is why describing most of them would be a waste of time because it wouldn’t make sense to know what they look like if you don’t know when they’re going to make an appearance. Regardless of that, Matthew Delimiter deserves a massive amount of credit for his portrayal of David, who attempts to contact Walt through posters in a rather unnerving manner. Because it turns out that the Flyers do have a motive behind them. During the conclusion, Catherine and Barbara portrayed the role of Curtin’s Buffy in quite an appealing manner, being the lynchpin to the true ending of the story.
The movie picks up a lot in power, particularly in the last 15 minutes, when it looks like it is at a familiar but pleasing ending and decides to proceed because it’s not finished with Walt and Wendy yet rather than because it doesn’t know when to stop.
Regarding the dog, this is a comedy, not a drama so: Tony is great, in the end. Everyone is OK in the end. Wendy Walt and even Louis have some issues long term however Mee-Sook. Well, this film has those questions too I am sure but does not wish to kill our buzz.
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