Blu-Ray Review: The Dog

By Brad Henderson

Just about everything Drafthouse Films has put out has been worth my time. . . so far. Their releases have been top-notch, from contemporary films to older titles. After seeing The Act Of Killing (review) I was anxious to see their next documentary acquisition. Now Drafthouse Films has released The Dog, about the “mastermind” behind the bank robbery on which the movie Dog Day Afternoon is based. We are introduced to the creepy, perverted, and overly annoying John Wojtowicz who also goes by The Dog, but I prefer to call him “asshole.”

In 1972, John attempted to rob a bank in order to pay for his fiancee’s sex change operation. This quickly made headlines and he gained a lot of attention during this fiasco. John wasn’t violent and the robbery wasn’t what it seemed. It was very low-key because he never wanted to hurt anyone; he was doing this for the person he loved. That’s the story that I know and love because it makes sense. It comes together in a very odd way, but I get it.

I already knew most of the backstory about the robbery and the men (and woman) behind it. If you saw the film you get the gist of what happened but this documentary totally focuses on John and his life leading up and after the robbery.

In The Dog, we’re shown John Wojtowicz in his entirety. This is a very well-made documentary and it isn’t boring, but it feels like it is seven hours long. It takes a lot of meaning away from the story and Wojtowicz’s motives because he is just a sleazebag. I don’t know if this doc was made to show how much of a jerk he was or if the people behind this documentary actually thought he was interesting. I admit the story behind the film is intriguing but this documentary goes places that I really didn’t care to know about.

Instead of focusing on John and Liz’s relationship and heartbreak, we are thrown into John’s sexcapades and stories about his sleaziness. At first it is entertaining because we are actually getting to know this guy instead of the character Al Pacino played in Dog Day Afternoon.

On the side we are given fragments of important stories which provide great details about the gay liberation movement and the impact that it had, but that is followed by a story about John getting blown by another guy and how well he gave head. Not that I’m against that at all, but it completely undercuts the degree of importance of the story. Obviously John is quite full of himself and thinks he is amazing, but in reality he is just a dirty old man with nothing to prove.

Like I said, this isn’t a bad documentary, it just went down a route that I honestly did not care about. There was true love that day in what John did for Liz and their relationship, but this documentary only brushes the surface of that. I guess showing how wild John was is more interesting to people, but I feel that what drove him to rob that bank that day for his lover is way more fascinating than how many guys John has had sex with.

The Dog was released by Drafthouse Films on November 4.