Dogman

Released Apr 12, 2019

1h 42m

Drama

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84%

120 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Marcello is a mild-mannered dog groomer who commits petty crimes for Simoncino, a former boxer who terrorizes the neighborhood. When Simoncino's abuse brings Marcello to the breaking point, he finally decides to take matters into his own hands.

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Critics Consensus

Dogman offers a grim character study set apart by Marcello Fonte's performance and director Matteo Garrone's tight grip on the material.

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Ale L

A film that made me angry and ended up leaving me feeling empty inside. It should absolutely be seen to observe how far human beings are able to go when subjected to certain situations. Who is the real Marcello? The one who swims with his daughter in the wonderful seabed or the one at the end? We always discover sides of ourselves that we never thought we would face.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/15/24

Full Review

JK37 K

Matteo Garrone - one of the main Italian directors of the modern time. I put off watching his movies for like 100 years, but now I finally got to them. And after "Dogman" that Italian has to show me everything he got 🤌 I won't describe the storyline fully. And it doesn't need to.. One great man said: "It's not us, it is life that makes us". This quote gives exact description of what's going on on the screen. The only thing I can say that I was very rooting for the main character. Maybe it's because I'm also a little man with a big nose who loves dogs, who knows 🐶 But the main element of the movie is not the plot. "Dogman" - is a great movie. One of those films which I can "feel" during watching. I hear all the sounds, like they are very close. I see characters like I'm living nearby. I can touch everything that is showing on the screen. I watch movies for that feeling. Unfortunately it doesn't come often 😞

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Dogman (2018), directed by Matteo Garrone, is an Italian crime drama. Marcello Fonte stars as Marcello, the protagonist of the film, and Edoardo Pesce stars as Simone, the antagonist. It's a story about a small business owner, a dog groomer and a divorced father of a sweet and adorable young girl, who deals cocaine on the side. Things turn ugly for him when he is bullied into a life of petty criminality by his menacing client and friend Simone. It's a story of violence and crime as seen through the eyes of a meek dog groomer set against a wider context within the pathology of Italy's divide between North and South, the disparity in socio-economic conditions, and the widening gaps of income inequality. The story takes place in a run down, dilapidated coastal suburb of Naples which forms the backdrop to the story and where crime is endemic. Marcello's deals cocaine. His neighbour Franco fences stolen goods. Francesco keeps slot machines in his cafe bar. Simone hustles, swindles and beats people up. The crime drama is superbly acted and Fonte's portrayal of Marcello is intensive and riveting as is Pesce's performance of Simone, the antagonist. Pesce shines in his performance of the film's main villain. Garrone creates an intimate and accessible portrait of Marcello, a meek and tragic figure, simmering with repressed anger and hostility, who in the end with nothing to lose takes a stand and fights back. The film is full of twists and turns which fuel the narrative of the story and adds to the dramatic tension. It's a complex film showing the cruelty and brutality of life in a run down suburb of Naples and the self-harm people inflict on themselves when they live a compromised life. Garrone weaves together many visual elements to create a dramatic film juxtaposing the narrative of Marcello's life, his vocation as a dog groomer, his devotion to his daughter, his relationship with his dog Jack, and his social standing amongst his male friends who he socializes and hangs out with against the narrative of his abusive relationship with Simone who treats him like a dog by having him do his bidding and taking him down a slippery slope into a life of criminality. The relationship between dog and human on a physical and metaphorical level stitch the narrative into a cohesive structure. The film opens with a menacing dog barking at the camera and climaxes with Simone caged in a cage. We see Marcello lovingly look after the dogs left in his care. He treats his pet dog Jack with tenderness and shares a plate of pasta with Jack. Marcello even goes back to a crime scene to rescue a Chihuahua that was stuffed in a freezer. Simone treats Marcello like a dog ordering him about and having him do his bidding like driving him to a heist and using his shop as a means to commit a break in. Some scenes were hard to watch and include seeing Simone rub Marcello's bruised and battered face against the motorbike that Marcello totaled. It's akin to the bad pet owner punishing their pet for an accident by rubbing their pet's nose in their urine or feces. The film superbly plays on the motif of dog and human relations. Dogman is in essence a coming of age film because it is only when Marcello's learns to fight brawn with brains can he beat Simone at his game and take control of his life. It's a provocative film whose ending is disturbing and unresolved with no hope in sight. If you are a fan of crime dramas, then, you're in for a treat. Dogman is a compelling film and worthy of your attention. If you are a fan of Italian cinema, then, you'll enjoy the film for its unique story line and cinematic story telling.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Ken R

This Italian drama claims to be based on real events, if this is so, maybe it needed to be left to the newspaper headlines then archived. It's a tragic tale of human injustice, the plight of a simple man (Marcello) struggling to make ends meet by running a dog grooming shop but who's constantly bullied by a moronic, vicious ex-boxer-thug. While Marcello's separated from his wife, he somehow manages to always have enough money to take his young daughter on snorkeling holidays. This money seems to come from his side-line dabbling as a local drug peddler – he also foolishly uses coke himself. In good company, this simple man might possibly be a reasonably respected citizen (maybe) but under the violent influence of the brutish thug, and not being able to defend himself from constant heavy standover tactics - he allows himself to sink into the depths of crime he mostly wants little part of (or so it might seem...?) After taking a prison rap for the activities of the thug, he begins to plan his revenge. It's a sad indictment of human frailty and how others can push the vulnerable into shocking life-altering situations. It's hailed as an Award winner but like so many of today's ‘Award' winners - there's little to enjoy and less to recommend it - unless you happen to have a thing for tales lifted from society's file of low-life-losers. Cinematography is good in its own dismal way and the lead performance is effective but a couple of plot deficiencies and heavy layers of ugliness mar its overall effectiveness.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/23/21

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Audience Member

Dogman is grim, dark, violent, and gloomy. It goes to show how much a human soul can withstand a certain amount of harassment. The direction is confident, the dialogue is realistic, and the central performance is astonishingly admirable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Matteo Garrone's crime drama about a timid kind dog-groomer roughhousing hard-bitten thuggery and destituteness for his daughter growls with gritty brutality and howling solitariness.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Matteo Garrone

Director

Marcello Fonte

Marcello

Edoardo Pesce

Simoncino

Alida Baldari Calabria

Alida

Nunzia Schiano

Madre Simoncino

Adamo Dionisi

Franco

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Noëlle D. Lilley

Chicago Reader

Told through unflinching shots in grayish hues, Matteo Garrone's film keeps viewers holding their breath to the bitter end.

Mar 11, 2020

Full Review

Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

A very uncomfortable film, but I liked it a lot anyways.

Sep 27, 2019

Full Review

David Stratton

The Australian

Suffused with a very dark vein of black humour, the film is dramatically tense and emotionally raw.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 30, 2019

Full Review

Luis Fernando Galván

En Filme

[Director Matteo] Garrone shows us how far the human soul can go after having suffered acts of psychological violence. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/5

May 28, 2021

Full Review

Hope Madden

Columbus Underground

After his darkly delightful 2015 fairy tale outing Tale of Tales, Garrone returns to the heavier Italian realism of Gomorrah. He hasn't abandoned allegory, though.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 11, 2020

Full Review

Gisela Savdie

El Heraldo

The level of despair, misery and hopelessness in a small town in Italy can be very local and universal at the same time [Full Review in Spanish]

Sep 19, 2020

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Synopsis

Marcello is a mild-mannered dog groomer who commits petty crimes for Simoncino, a former boxer who terrorizes the neighborhood. When Simoncino's abuse brings Marcello to the breaking point, he finally decides to take matters into his own hands.

Director: Matteo Garrone
Producer: Alessio Lazzareschi
Screenwriter: Matteo Garrone, Ugo Chiti, Massimo Gaudioso
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Archimede, Le Pacte, RAI Cinema
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 12, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 16, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $146.5K
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Digital 5.1
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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