Good Deed Entertainment
The expression ‘hangdog’ is an interesting one — it originally came from a 17th century phrase about loathsome individuals only to ‘hang a dog’ or be hung like one. But eventually that turned into a word that meant having a dejected, defeated appearance — but naturally, of course, defeat might only be temporary. Especially if you have a path to salvation, as precarious as it might be.
Hangdog comes from director Matt Cascella and is co-written by him and his wife Jen Cordery in his first feature film. It’s one of the classic ‘slice of life’ sort of stories that tell a simple, bounded tale that asks little questions about ourselves in a town that could be almost anywhere. The film stars Desmin Borges (of my beloved You’re the Worst) as Walt, newly living in Portland, Maine (not the other more famous Portland) with his girlfriend Wendy (Kelly O’Sullivan).
Walt’s spirits are already low, living so far from where he’s used to, and Wendy seems to be more interested in spending time with her beloved dog Tony than her partner. He can’t help but be anxious about their relationship, especially after the big move — and he hasn’t yet been able to find a job, so he’s also living entirely off his girlfriend.
When Wendy has to leave for an important trip, she entrusts her pet’s safety to Walt — the most important task and the most responsibility he’s had in a while. So far so good, but he falls for a scam and the dog gets ‘dognapped’ — now Walt is desperate, because he assumes it’s all over if he can’t retrieve Tony — not to mention who knows how Tony might end up.
Walt doesn’t know the local area as well, but he starts his search, ending up befriending some local oddballs including Marianne (Barbara Rosenblat) — snarky, cigarette smoking anarchist type — and Brent (Steve Coulter), a sad, recently widowed older gentlemen with some interesting leads. It’s definitely one of those ‘shaggy dog’ stories in its own way, as Walt searches for Tony the dog, he is always seeking a way to overcome his anxiety.
It’s a movie that’s often funny in small, bittersweet ways but not really any laugh out loud ways — Desmin Borges really is perfect in this role because the ‘hangdog’ face comes so easily to him, as we’ve seen in You’re the Worst. This is more of a ‘sad, anxious detective’ sort of role for him instead of ‘sad, traumatized addict’, but it’s still an expanded range if you ask me.
It’s interesting to have this husband-and-wife creative team behind the movie, giving a bit more depth to characters as it comes from multiple writers — but the directing work is pretty good, often pretty well shot, especially considering the low budget. The movie’s pacing is a bit of an up and down feeling, sometimes a bit slow and taking time to luxuriate in conversations or the real life beaches of Portland — but cutting well when need be to keep things going.
This isn’t one of those melodramatic sorts of films where you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop — instead you know things will end well enough, it’s more about the journey to get there and seeing how the characters evolve and grow along the way.
Hangdog has a run time of 1 hour 31 minute, and is not rated.
Good Deed Entertainment
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