A Boy and His Dog

Something has to be said for a movie that begins itself with a nuclear apocalypse. Something should also be said for a movie that is able to portray a talking mutt that somehow doesn't give that regretful taste of a family comedy about feuding cats, dogs and children. 'A Boy and His Dog' does not waste any time setting up the world for you.

A quick run-through of the story: The world is a post-nuclear wasteland with nothing to see but sand and darker sand, society seems nonexistent and you lucky viewers are destined to traverse this world through the eyes of the horniest boys left in the world, Vic. Granted, he isn't the only one as you quickly find out that it seems like common desert play for young boys to take their loyal dogs and have them sniff out women, who seem on the verge of extinction, for their carnal pleasures. His determination for a little 'afternoon delight' is what moves him through most of the story, his only companion being his intelligent telepathic dog, Blood, who seems insistent on teaching him all the knowledge and history lost after the war. Eventually they do run into a beautiful young lady, Quilla Jones, and after she allows him to satisfy his urges she tells him of a place underground that she wants to take him. This leads him into a totalitarian town of people that kill off anyone that breaks their smallest rules and ultimately puts Vic in the position of journeying with his loyal dog or living a good life with the woman he often dreams about (well, one part of her anyway).

From start to finish I found this story rather charming mostly because of Blood. That idea of a young guy and his dog just surviving together in a world torn apart, it gets to me. Give the dog a sexy voice and telekinesis, well then you've just made a lover out of me. In all seriousness though, Blood really helped me sit through this story at first. Vic was an all around unlikeable character for me. He wasn't charming, spent most of his time using his dog to look for someone to rape and he wasn't even intelligent. Generally in anti-heroes I look forward to them being clever and brilliant therefore allowing me to excuse whatever twisted way they decide to live their lives. Vic was nothing like that, even though I doubt many boys his age would be after being raised in the desert with no understanding of their own history or standard fair of knowledge. Blood was on the brighter end of the spectrum, often speaking quite profoundly and often shooting Vic down for his barbaric attitude and ignorance. It's a beautiful picture of a duo; daft human man and his brilliant shaggy little dog. I suppose this need of having both of them together for me to like them made their partnership all the more moving to me. Yes, Vic does treat Blood as more of a tool in the master and pet sense but he soon realizes that he needs Blood's help and eventually realizes that he loves his company. If I could compare this to anything, the relationship between the protagonist and his dog in 'I am Legend' comes to mind. Only difference is that Vic can easily relate to Blood since that whole language barrier is broken.

Now you are probably asking, "is this whole story really just about a boy and his telepathic-menstruation smelling-genius dog or is there a little more under this tablecloth you've laid out for us, Ernon-the-Great?", and after hearing that I'd most likely tell you, "Yes." in a dead pan fashion. Beneath this salad of boys, psychic dogs and a quest for sex are the social and political main courses we probably recognize from many other notable Science-Fiction stories. Things start speeding up as we follow Vic and Blood across what's left of the world. Seeing the small communities made from the survivors following a communistic sort of lifestyle and the secret religious, yet vicious "smile-society" made up of the elders that survived that forces a 1950s lifestyle and mentality upon its residence. Humanity's desires falling back to need based things like food, shelter and companionship and inevitably, trust and loyalty. Basically all the things that makes me love a good zombie story, which is probably why I really got into this.

Probably the only thing that really bothered me about this story was the inclusion of these radioactive people that emit a green glowing light and are capable of killing a person from just a touch. They could have been interesting but their part was rather minor. It seemed more like a nod to the idea of mutated people after a nuclear disaster rather than a core plot mover. If they were encountered more than once throughout the story then maybe they would have seemed more attached to this world but alas they were not. Other than that little nuisance, however, this was a memorable roller coaster ride of a story (actually it was pretty slow) with a charming dog, an interesting setting, fleshed out post-apocalyptic morals and an ending that gave me a grin no other movie ever managed to give me.


Vic- "We coulda' used her three more times!"
Blood- "Ah, war is hell."