The Big Dog (2023) Film Review
Regardless of any conclusion that the film provides to Richard’s character arc in The Big Dog, the moral compass of the film is far too twisted to put it beside its genre peers. It’s a comedy because it makes you laugh, but Richard’s role in his family is nothing to laugh about. Here’s a man who’s living a double life, and the ”bad” one of those lives feels like a willful decision that is now out of control. Are we supposed to cheer for Richard? Or condemn him because he did a “bad” thing? The Big Dog doesn’t answer this clearly but sometimes the lack of answers is far more effective than easy expositions.
Richard Morgan is your average family guy. Happily married, and the father of a successful graduate. The problem is that Richard has a secret: He’s a “pay pig” who, out of a sexual fetish, has to cover all expenses his “princess” requires. It may not be necessary for a particular expense, but what Princess Paige asks for, Richard is forced to deliver. The financial dominatrix eventually drains Richard’s account and he’s left with no money to buy his son a graduation gift. As Richard desperately tries to get money, his family gets closer to finding out the truth, and Paige is getting impatient.
The tone of the film shifts slowly to ultimately turn The Big Dog into a dark drama about a broken man who can’t cut the link to something he’s embarrassed about. Again, at first, it’s funny, and if the film had stayed like that through to the end, it would have stayed a risqué comedy and nothing more.
Dane McCusker decides to do otherwise with the film. He gives Richard a chance at redemption, and while he’s forced to keep the main character under his comedic frame, McCusker also subjects the man to something horrific that’s not as critical as when his family finds out about the shady part of his life. The third act shows a broken man delivering what’s left of his soul to the remains of his family. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s also the only way the film could have ended.
The Big Dog has high production value, which is rare for an independent film. The performances are pretty good, and Julian Garner does a pretty good job at leading the film with a difficult character that navigates through every emotion while showing conviction as he’s aroused by a money-frenzied dominatrix. The script is not the best, but Garner complies with the expectations.
In the end, if there’s a lesson to be learned from the film, it’s about control. Finding it and grasping on to it. Richard is a victim of himself and the lack of empathy of his counterpart. If Paige was supposed to be the most unlikable character of all, then she did a pretty good job out of it. I’m completely unfamiliar with domination relationships, but I guess there’s a limit and Paige went right above it.
