The Dog
Drafthouse Films | Release Date: August 8, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzAug 8, 2014
Co-directors Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren seem to be operating from a place of nonjudgmental curiosity, so pure and sustained that it becomes indistinguishable from love. They can't get enough of John Wojtowicz. Read full review
91
The PlaylistChristopher SchobertAug 6, 2014
As the moving, sad, riotously humorous documentary The Dog explains, the film only captured traces of Wojtowicz’s personality, and only told bits of his story. Read full review
90
TheWrapInkoo KangAug 8, 2014
Though The Dog can be seen through any number of lenses — a study of media distortion, an illustration of life-sustaining grandiosity, a love story gone deliriously wrong — it's perhaps most meaningful as an exploration of the limits of the gay rights movement's political correctness. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanAug 14, 2014
He's an engaging, profane interview subject, and a complex guy, self-described as both a "pervert" and a "romantic," sexually omnivorous, a Goldwater Republican before being drafted and sent to Vietnam, a McCarthyite peacenik afterward. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubJosh ModellAug 7, 2014
As a portrait of a life lived strangely — and if you asked its subject, perfectly, with no regrets — The Dog is charming. Read full review
80
NPRBob MondelloAug 8, 2014
The filmmakers have been telling interviewers they have sufficient additional material for a whole other movie. And The Dog is eye-opening enough to make you kind of hope that's true. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeAug 7, 2014
A spunky yet surprisingly sad portrait of a sexually liberated man held captive by his past, forever chasing and trying to rewrite his own legend. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 7, 2014
The Dog is, as its title suggests, a documentary portrait, but it’s also an exploration of that sometimes messy thing called identity. Read full review
80
Village VoicePete Vonder HaarAug 5, 2014
What makes The Dog so compelling isn't Wojtowicz's cinematic imprint but the place in history that was very likely denied him by chance and his own irascibility. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 5, 2014
For all its eye-opening material, The Dog still feels unfinished, but for students of New York scuzziness, it’s an essential addition. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyAug 21, 2014
While Wojtowicz’s shape-shifting character is the major source of fascination here, the archival footage, including with is terrifically effective in evoking the tumultuous era and occasionally providing a reality check to the Dog’s boastful version of his life. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 14, 2014
In addition to “pervert” — which Wojtowicz makes sound like a badge of honor — the film offers many other seemingly contradictory assessments of Wojtowicz, mainly from his own mouth: troll, Goldwater Republican, McCarthy peacenik, crazy man, crook, romantic. He was all of those things and more, as The Dog makes vividly obvious. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughAug 14, 2014
Bizarre, fascinating, and frustrating documentary. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickAug 6, 2014
Wojtowicz was a folk hero thanks to the movie, and he cashed in on his celebrity by signing autographs in front of the bank he tried to rob. He also retained the love and support of his wife and his doting mother, both of whom are interviewed with him in The Dog, until his death in 2006. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeAug 7, 2014
Talking heads aside, the movie gets a big boost from the wealth of news footage and post-standoff reportage the filmmakers cull from archives. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAug 7, 2014
The film is a real "whew"-factor yarn, a hearty soup of thick accents, bold personalities and complicated motives, with an unmistakable taste of charismatic, ornery American hedonism. Read full review
70
The DissolveScott TobiasAug 6, 2014
Every part of Wojtowicz’s story is touched by madness, though The Dog doesn’t miss the depression and tragedy that lingers around it. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAug 20, 2014
The Dog reveals both expected and unexpected things about this oddball character to keep you interested. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenAug 4, 2014
It's informed with a subtle but disquieting subtext that insists on the pitfalls of allowing ideology to steer you away from common sense. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 7, 2014
And always there’s Wojtowicz himself, who died in 2006. His patter and persona must be seen to be believed. This guy was a piece of work, and so is The Dog. Read full review
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