MAN ABOUT DOG
Ireland, 2004, 85 minutes, Colour.
Allen Leech, Tom Murphy, Ciaran Nolan, Fionnula Flanagan, Sean Mc Ginley, Pat Shortt.
Directed by Paddy Breathnach.
Man About Dog is a brief Irish shaggy dog story – although it is set in the world of greyhound racing.
The film focuses on three slackers, Irish style, Northern Ireland style. They are portrayed by Allan Leech, Tom Murphy and Ciaran Nolan, three unemployed oddballs in their own way. One, Cerebral Paulsy, is genial but slow. Ciaran Nolan as Scud Murphy is luckless, accident-prone, but self-confident. The hero is Allen Leech’s Mo Chara, who has a feel for greyhounds.
There are various complications in this rather picaresque story including Sean Mc Ginley as a crooked greyhound owner and bookie and Fionnula Flanagan as a widow who wants to get revenge on the bookie. There is also a crowd of gypsies and their buying the greyhound from the slackers and the slackers taking it back – including threats of death from both sides in the greyhound should win.
Needless to say it all works out. The film is very Irish in tone, humour, the kind of swearing and profanity that one has become used to from Irish films like The Commitments…
The film was directed by Paddy Breathnach who made an impact with the Irish film I Went Down, who also made Blow Dry as well as horror films including Shrooms.
1.The appeal for an Irish audience? Beyond Ireland? Irish language, accent, humour? Swearing? Earthiness?
2.The Northern Ireland settings, the town, homes, the countryside? The racetracks? A realistic feel? The musical score?
3.The title, the phrase, dogs and men? Dogs as pets, the racetrack, greyhound racing, training, betting, fixing races? The emphasis on dogs?
4.Mo and his voice-over, commentary about himself, his family, his prospects? His comments on Scud Murphy and his lucklessness? On Cerebral Paulsy and his slowness? His comment on the events, his interpretation? His character, reliable or not? Slacker, with his friends? With J.P.Mc Callion and the fixing of the race? The reward of the dog, the scroungy dog? Their disgust? Olivia watching, contacting them? The proposal to beat Mc Callion? Their success?
5.Mc Callion, the bookie, his cohorts, fixing races, his own dog, the drugs, the substitutions? Getting the boys to do his dirty work? Tricking them with the dog? The clash with Olivia? His pursuing the boys, threatening them? His hold over them, the violence? The finale and his being defeated?
6.Olivia, the widow, her anger at being beaten by Mc Callion? Her inviting the boys over, promising them a dog, their achievement, her giving them the greyhound?
7.Cerebral Paulsy, drugs, slow, friendship? His being semi-stoned most of the time? His contribution to the action? The contrast with Scud, his van and selling goods, the seductive woman, in her house, the kids raiding his van, it being loosed, crashing down the street? Angry reactions? His run of bad luck?
8.The story: the dog, it being a failure, chasing rabbits, the hare, their wanting to get rid of it? Meeting the gypsies? The deal? The later change of heart, wanting to train it? Kidnapping the dog? The gypsies pursuing them?
9.The picaresque adventures, drinking, travelling, the encounter with the girls in the pub, the sexual encounters?
10.Realising the dog could succeed, training, the plan against Mc Callion, going to the greyhound track? The pursuit by the gypsies, the threats, at the clifftop?
11.Mc Callion and his threats, their being caught between the two groups, both to lose the match as well as to win it?
12.Their dog, its ability, its being hampered by Mc Callion, it chasing the hare, the way that the winnings were seen, turning the hare? The dog’s achievement, overtaking the favourite, winning?
13.The finale, people getting their comeuppance, people being successful? The Irish tongue-in-cheek tone? The tone of the language, the idiom, the humour? How well did it work?
