Three pedigree chumps learn that every underdog has its day in this freewheeling Irish comedy. In hock to the tune of £50,000 to a Belfast bookie and saddled with a dopey greyhound that wouldn't run if its backside was on fire, Mo Chara (Allen Leech), his perpetually stoned mate 'Cerebral' Paulsey (Tom Murphy), and the terminally unlucky Scud (Ciaran Nolan) head south in the hope of seeing a man about a dog. Foul-mouthed and funny, Man About Dog is full of great craic.
After a run in with a comical gang of "gypos" on the road to Clonmel, the trio get a chance to turn their chump change into fool's gold by gatecrashing the world of coursing (greyhound racing using a live hare). Will they win big or will the dreaded curse of "the blink" ensure that underachieving pooch Cerebrus continues to be as athletic as Droopy on barbiturates?
"PUTS BIGGER BUDGETED EFFORTS TO SHAME"
From the moment the starter's gun fires, this entertaining romp puts most bigger budgeted efforts to shame as director Paddy Breathnach unleashes a torrent of hilariously profane language, un-PC gags and bags of guttersnipe charm. Touched by the same comic genius as the director's cack-handed caper flick I Went Down, it's full of some rip-roaring scenes involving forged £20 notes emblazoned with Gerry Adams' face, a back road chainsaw massacre, and enough (fake) animal cruelty to make RSPCA members double their monthly direct debits.
Over-enthusiasm can be a curse, though, and as the film cracks along into its final third, the snap crackle and pop charm threatens to become as soggy as bowl of two-day-old Rice Krispies. A misjudged interlude involving three Eastern European girls adds some bare flesh but slows the pace, breaking the comedy patter. Still, like being passed a dodgy Republican £20, it's hard not to admire the sheer chutzpah that wags the tail of this shaggy dog story.
Man About Dog (2004)
