A Boy And His Dog (1975) **1/2

A Boy And His Dog (1975) is a tough movie to rate and discuss without spoilers and a different experience in 2019 than I'm sure it was when it was released (or maybe not for women?).

The premise is that in an apocalyptic 2024 society is (surprise) still a patriarchy but more so it's just a degenerate rapefest. Even our protagonist Vic (Don Johnson) basically just lives to survive and get "laid" (with the women not having a say in the matter). He is aided by a talking dog (only he can hear) named Blood (humorously voiced by Tim McIntire) who can smell these "broads" for Vic to have his way with. 

Now I can accept leads or "antiheroes" that have misogynistic or even rapey tendencies in films (lord knows I love A Clockwork Orange—both the book and film), but typically there is some other quality to them that makes them "likable" (be it charisma, dimension, and/or redemption) or at least entertaining in a satirical sense. Art is art and I don't believe that all characters need to be representational or morally perfect, etc. 

However, I found Vic to be one-note. Every time you think his character is going to develop, he doesn't. And I found Susanne Benton's character of Quilla June to be a wasted opportunity. She's part of an underground society called "Downunder", where her father (Jason Robards—good, as you'd expect, but mostly just rambling here) sends her above ground to recruit (re: seduce) male surface dwellers with the express purpose of fertilizing their society's female population. 

This section of the film provides the most interesting bits—the underground city, Topeka, in which Downunder resides is ruled by a triumvirate known as "The Committee" where the residents wear whiteface and dress as if they are living in pre-World War II rural America. Quilla June wants to usurp power and run Topeka with Vic, but he's only interested in getting back above ground, where he left (re: abandoned) his canine friend, Blood.

Unfortunately, any attempts at pointed sociopolitical commentary are rendered moot by the film's lack of plot development and preoccupation with goofiness. In particular, the climax is a punchline—a funny pun, to be sure, and I like other movies that build to a silly ending (1959’s Some Like It Hot (review), 1988’s They Live (review)) but usually what preceded it is strong enough to back up that kind of a denouement. Harlan Ellison, the author of the cycle of narratives on which the film is based, was quoted as saying that this addition (changed from the one in his cycles) was a "moronic, hateful chauvinist last line, which I despise."

Some viewers might feel that I'm missing the point, that the story is all about the love between the "boy" (Johnson was 26 when he played the role) and his dog but when the theatrical poster advertises the film as an "R rated, rather kinky tale of survival", I have my doubts about the filmmakers’ intentions at deep philosophical musings.