The Dog | Review

Dog Eat Dog: Berg & Keraudren’s Doc an Intriguing Portrait of a Famous Bank Robber

Destined to be a compelling double feature event with Sidney Lumet’s classic 1975 film, Dog Day Afternoon, Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren’s documentary The Dog examines the life of the real life bank robber, John Wojtowicz. Though it may be a unique pathway for a younger generation to be exposed to the classic film, it will surely be fans of the Oscar nominated Al Pacino headliner that should take an immediate interest. As scandalous and tawdry as Wojtowicz’s famed crime was made out to be, this behind the scenes account, which follows Wojtowicz and several friends and family members through the significant aftereffects of the robbery, his whole story is definitely unique enough for this strikingly compiled portrait of a man relayed through conversation. What inspired the Lumet film is still intact here, the tale of a man whose passion for his partner inspired him to drastically break the law to make her happy. Except, we get to see the frayed ends of the tale barely touched upon in 1975.

The generously amiable Wojtowicz explains his military background and marriage to first wife, Carmen, a woman he’d courted and considered himself in love with. But he also explains his rather overzealous libido, which led to him experimenting sexually with men while in the service, which he’d entered as a conservative Republican, a stance that his tour would significantly alter. With his marriage to Carmen fizzling out, Wojtowicz began exploring his bisexual side and joined an activist group in Greenwich Village, where he found himself near the eye of the storm circa post-Stonewall. Wojtowicz describes himself as ‘sexually’ rather than ‘politically’ motivated, like many of his peers at the time. In 1971, he would meet and fall in love with transsexual Ernie Aron, the infamous relationship that would be the catalyst for the bank robbery.

After a wedding ceremony (though technically Wojtowicz was never divorced from his first wife), their relationship became tumultuous, with drama revolving around Aron’s wish for sex reassignment surgery. At first against Aron’s decision to become a woman, Wojtowicz eventually decided what he wanted most was his partner’s happiness. And, of course, the next chapter in that story is well documented.

Where The Dog starts to get really interesting is with Wojtowicz’s mother, Terry, a rather gruff Brooklynite that at first seems the typical begrudging parent, willing to accept her gay son but not necessarily happy about it. But throughout these extensive interviews and background footage assembled, a different portrait begins to emerge, and we realize that Terry is staunchly supportive of her son.

While not much time is spent on the actual robbery, we do get to see interviews from people who were there on that infamous day in 1972 while the robbery transpired. Wojtowicz had been seen by some as a local celebrity, a Robin Hood kind of figure. However, it was made clear that gay activist groups wanted nothing to do with him. Likewise, it seems prison wasn’t much of a cheery experience, but we do meet his third wife/partner he met there, George Heath, who also lived with Terry and John after being released from prison.

While we follow the thread of Aron’s unfortunate demise, both Terry and John died while Berg and Keraudren were making the feature. Wojtowicz had been diagnosed with cancer while filming, and through the extensive interviews one can see the decline in his health. There’s a rich wealth of archival footage, but there’s more power in the amount of genuine warmth the filmmakers were able to cull from Wojtowicz and his fiercely loyal mother. If anything, you’ll feel compelled to rewatch that classic Lumet, and to their credit, the filmmakers have made a documentary that moves beyond a nifty extra feature.

★★★/☆☆☆☆☆