My Dog Stupid (2019)

Henri is a middle-aged writer in crisis. Just at a time when he assesses of his life, an enormous gray dog, impolite and smelly, sneaks into Henri's house.

Director:

Yvan Attal

Writers:

John Fante (novel), Dean Craig (scenario)

Stars:

Yvan Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Eric Ruf

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yvan Attal	...	Henri Mohen
Charlotte Gainsbourg	...	Cécile Mohen
Eric Ruf	...	Professeur Mazard (as Éric Ruf sociétaire de la Comédie-Française)
Pascale Arbillot	...	Louise Breuvart
Ben Attal	...	Raphaël Mohen
Adèle Wismes	...	Pauline Mohen
Pablo Venzal	...	Noé Mohen
Panayotis Pascot	...	Gaspard Mohen
Oscar Copp	...	Hugues
Lola Marois-Bigard	...	Marie-Lise (as Lola Marois)
Sébastien Thiery	...	Daval, le jogger
Franz-Rudolf Lang	...	L'agent d'Henri (as Franz Lang)
Karlos Hébrard	...	Officier de police 1
Yon Hébrard	...	Officier de police 2
Thibaud Vaneck	...	L'avocat

Storyline

Henri is a middle-aged writer in crisis: married and father of four children, he obtained, many years ago, an editorial success that he has never repeated again. Just at a time when he assesses of his life, an enormous gray dog, impolite and smelly, sneaks into Henri's house. Despite the attempts of the whole family to throw him out, and that his wife's unconditional love begin to falter, this dog, whom they decide to call "Stupid," is going to become Henri's best friend.

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Plot Keywords:

writer | father daughter conflict | father son conflict | family conflict | dysfunctional family | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Charlotte Gainsbourg (Cécile) and Yvan Attal (Henri) are real life husband and wife since 1991. In addition, Ben Attal (Raphaël) is their real life son.

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Connections

Features Nothing Sacred (1937)

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Soundtracks

And I Love Her
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by Brad Mehldau

User Reviews

Hot dog.

The first part deftly blends comedy with drama;director/actor Attal uses a classic comic situation for something it was not meant for: the (very big) dog settles down in a bourgeois house and the family cannot get rid of this burdensome animal ; but dad ,a writer who has been suffering from cramp for years , is fed up with his depressed wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and his restless offspring : three boys and a girl ;the dog becomes his true mate ,he calls him "Stupid" (in the title ,it's really a proper noun).There's a lot of humor ,as this dog has a tendency to sexually assault the male persons;although Attal uses and abuses the voice over to tell us how he feels nostagic for his days in Rome ,where he was able to let his inspiration flow, but it was before he was a family man,the movie survives the intellectual intentions .

With a few exceptions,the second part is preachy,edifying ,sophomoric and dull ,as tedious as Miss Gainsbourg's lecture on Musset' "Lorenzaccio" ; the story becomes predictable , implausible (the essays ), and " you -shall- be- a- man ,my son " in the grand tradition of Kipling; all the lines between the born again writer and his editor have been heard at least a hundred times or more by the average viewer: it's the last line , thanks one more time to this good old dog ,which saves it from the pure cliché .It's also the presence of the pet which saves the improbable scene between the professor and the writer .The story drags on and on , with a little help from the music ,a lovely variation on Lennon/McCartney's "and I love her"in the last sequences,nicely filmed .

Dedicated to director Claude Berri.

Details

Country:

France Belgium

Language:

French

Release Date:

31 July 2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Dog Stupid

Filming Locations:

Bidart, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,040,319

Company Credits

Production Co:

Same Player, Montauk Films, Good Time Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1