The latest from Luc Besson begins with an onscreen quote from Lamartine: “Whenever there is an unfortunate, God sends a dog.” The unfortunate in question here is Doug (Caleb Landry Jones) and God hasn’t settled for one dog, there’s a whole van load of them to be found as our protagonist’s vehicle is pulled over by the police in New Jersey. Oh, and Doug is dressed as Marilyn Monroe.
Enter Dr. Evelyn Decker (Jonica T. Gibbs), who is assigned to evaluate Doug’s psychological state. The initial pleasantries give way to the inevitable questions about how this animal lover in drag came to be on the wrong side of the law, and the flashbacks commence, beginning with Doug’s brutal childhood, through his experiences in various care homes and to his ultimate role as friend to all canines.
DogMan is a curious beast. As a potential comeback movie for Besson, his first directorial effort since 2019’s Anna, it bears some of the hallmarks of his earlier work with a certain regard to skewed action set pieces and an undeniable je ne sais quoi in terms of visual flair. However, very much like its hero, it’s unsure of where it should settle. The idea of various deeds of doggy derring-do for Doug is an outlandish one to begin with, but when that premise is transplanted to a jewellery heist, it feels like this should be a film for kids.
If you’re expecting an action movie, this flick is going to lead you down a number of detours before the lead starts flying. Detours such as: how Doug came to love the works of Shakespeare, powered by his developing love for drama teacher Salma (Grace Palma), which is admittedly sweet but is also a prime example of the tonal whiplash in which this tale constantly trades, the amusing am-dram montage curtailed by a swift goodbye and the next incoming downer.
It’s not that the background detail is boring; far from it. Those historical notes give context and motivation for Doug to confront the bad guys in what could have been a satisfying, extended third act showdown. Instead, the confrontation is put on hold while the story wanders off to consider the small matter of how you can become a celebrated drag act, following a spot of lip syncing to Edith Piaf. Are you going to see that in the new Jason Statham movie? * I think not.
I can’t deny that this takes the film in an unexpected and sometimes emotional direction, even if its queens do possess an air of the stereotypical, but it also deals a near fatal blow to the already flagging pace. The daft denouement, when it eventually comes around, isn’t particularly helped by the fact that dogs vs bad guys doesn’t work so well when the dogs look more like they’ll lick your face rather than tear your throat out.
It’s clear that Besson is at least continuing to try to make something different and the wackiness trajectory of his previous few projects should have hinted at the level of jaw dropping batshittery DogMan was aiming for. Disappointingly, it’s never quite batshit enough, holding back at the moments it could have genuinely swung for the fences, although the Lassie-style moment involving a severed finger is a highlight.
And yet, despite my many misgivings, DogMan is worth a watch because of its intent to re-invent the action thriller, even if the results fall a long way short of those ambitions. If that isn’t enough, then the performance of Caleb Landry Jones should be reason enough to stick with it for a few minutes shy of a couple of hours. There are nods to a Joker-style origin story but his work rises above lazy comparisons, presenting a complex and sympathetic character, damaged but unbowed and with a keen sense of humour. His interactions with Gibbs point up some fine scripting, which is refreshingly free of the snark and spite usually found in those two handers. It’s a shame that too much of it is hamstrung by its cartoony villains and a propensity to aim for profound dialogue when the better option would have been to let Caleb Landry Jones’ expressions do the talking.
Overall, it’s the veritable dog’s dinner, but it has a sense of the barking mad which may endear it to viewers who want to see Luc Besson’s take on the perma-rain and grimy suburbs you’d normally see in a DC Universe story.
*By the way, I very much enjoyed The Beekeeper. Jason Statham does not need to lip sync to Edith Piaf, he just needs to thump a whole lot of people. Which he does. Particularly well.
DogMan (2023) will be released on 11th March 2024.