The Dog (2014)
81%RT Audience Score: 68%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
266 wins & 306 nominations total
Fascinating, evocative, and as unconventional as its subject, The Dog offers a colorful window into the real-life story behind a classic film
The Dog is a wild ride through the life of John Wojtowicz, the man who inspired Dog Day Afternoon. This documentary is a must-watch for anyone who loves true crime stories or just wants to see a glimpse into the life of a truly unique individual. Wojtowicz’s larger-than-life personality shines through in every interview, and you can’t help but be drawn in by his charm and charisma. The archival footage is a treat, and the filmmakers do an excellent job of weaving it together with present-day interviews to create a cohesive and engaging narrative. Overall, The Dog is a fascinating and entertaining documentary that will leave you wanting more.
Production Company(ies)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Distributor
Drafthouse Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Dunedin, New Zealand
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for brief sexual content/full nudity.
Year of Release
2014
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 41m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 8, 2014 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 4, 2014
Genre(s)
Documentary/LGBTQ+
Keyword(s)
documentary, LGBTQ+, John Wojtowicz, Dog Day Afternoon, Allison Berg, Frank Keraudren, bank robbery, sex-reassignment surgery, true story, identity, unconventional, fascinating, evocative, colorful, real-life story, critic reviews, box office, Drafthouse Films, directed by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, written by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, produced by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, reviewed by J.R Jones, Wesley Morris, Steve Davis, Linda Barnard, Peter Keough, Michael O’Sullivan, Nicholas Bell, Paul Freitag-Fey, Josh Goller, Steve Erickson, Kathy Fennessy, starring John Wojtowicz, Carmen Bifulco, Liz Debbie Eden, George Heath, Bob Kappstatter, Eugene Lowenkopf, MPAA rating, budget
Worldwide gross: $271,009
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $294,751
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,857
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 32,143
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Carmen Bifulco – self
Liz Debbie Eden – self
George Heath – self
Bob Kappstatter – self
Eugene Lowenkopf – self
Allison Berg – director
Frank Keraudren – director
Director(s)
Allison Berg, Frank Keraudren
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Berlin, South by Southwest, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
266 wins & 306 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (58) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (5)
Questions of identity reverberate through The Dog, a documentary by Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren that chronicles Wojtowicz’s storied and terribly sad life.
October 2, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
There’s a brashness to this documentary that sneaks up on you.
August 21, 2014
Wesley Morris
Grantland
TOP CRITIC
Try as you may, however, you can’t turn away from this obscure footnote in pop culture history, even at his most aggravating. It’s that twisted thing we call celebrity.
August 21, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Sidney Lumet’s Oscar-winning Dog Day Afternoon was based on a true story – and John Wojtowicz doesn’t even try to hide his glee in sharing every juicy, crazed detail in revealing documentary, The Dog.
August 14, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Linda Barnard
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
The result does justice to their subject’s foul-mouthed charm and braggadocio.
August 14, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Peter Keough
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
In numerous interviews that careen from profane braggadocio to tender reminiscence, the lustily bisexual Wojtowicz comes across as almost bizarrely self-satisfied.
August 14, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Michael O’Sullivan
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
There’s a rich wealth of archival footage, but there’s more power in the amount of genuine warmth the filmmakers were able to cull from Wojtowicz and his fiercely loyal mother.
August 30, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
An expertly-crafted documentary on a riveting subject, and one that leaves you only wanting more than its 105 minutes could show.
August 2, 2019
Paul Freitag-Fey
Daily Grindhouse
The Dog is a fascinating character study of a hapless man who lived for decades in the shadow of his own myth.
July 18, 2019 | Rating: 3.75/5
Josh Goller
Spectrum Culture
Cautionary tales are rarely this exhilarating.
March 1, 2019
Steve Erickson
Nashville Scene
[A] queasily compelling documentary.
August 22, 2017
Kathy Fennessy
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
Often hilarious, poignant and fascinating, The Dog is as entertaining as movies (in any genre or form) get, telling a true story that is far stranger anything a screenwriter could cook up.
March 26, 2016 | Rating: A-
John Fink
The Film Stage…
Plot
Severe, pale-eyed, handsome, Phil Burbank is brutally beguiling. All of Phil’s romance, power and fragility is trapped in the past and in the land: He can castrate a bull calf with two swift slashes of his knife; he swims naked in the river, smearing his body with mud. He is a cowboy as raw as his hides. The year is 1925. The Burbank brothers are wealthy ranchers in Montana. At the Red Mill restaurant on their way to market, the brothers meet Rose, the widowed proprietress, and her impressionable son Peter. Phil behaves so cruelly he drives them both to tears, revelling in their hurt and rousing his fellow cowhands to laughter – all except his brother George, who comforts Rose then returns to marry her. As Phil swings between fury and cunning, his taunting of Rose takes an eerie form – he hovers at the edges of her vision, whistling a tune she can no longer play. His mockery of her son is more overt, amplified by the cheering of Phil’s cowhand disciples. Then Phil appears to take the boy under his wing. Is this latest gesture a softening that leaves Phil exposed, or a plot twisting further into menace?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The documentary features John Wojtowicz, the man who inspired the film “Dog Day Afternoon.”
Allison-Berg.jpg
