My Dog Stupid

EXTENDED 1 EXTRA DAY! Available for rental: Monday, June 22, 2020 @ 6am PST→ Friday, June 26 @ 6am PST

Join our Zoom Q&A with Darin Coelho Spring, filmmaker and bookseller in Placerville to discuss Yvan Attal’s adaptation of John Fante’s novella. Tuesday, June 23 @ 6:30pm.

Henri (Yvan Attal) is a middle-aged writer with fading inspiration who has published nothing noteworthy since writing a best seller 25 years ago. Who is responsible for his failures, lack of libido, and backache? His wife, Cécile (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and four deadbeat children, of course! Feeling increasingly misunderstood by his family, Henri dreams of running away to start over again. So when an enormous, ugly, and sex-crazed dog decides to settle in the family home, Henri adopts him, as a way to reclaim his life and freedom. He names the dog Stupid and, to Henri’s delight, Stupid soon becomes part of the family. This is, however, to the great displeasure of the rest of the household, especially Cécile, whose unfailing love, powered by wine and antidepressants, begins to falter.

Based on the short story of the same name from John Fante’s novella West of Rome, published posthumously in 1986, My Dog Stupid stars iconic real-life couple Charlotte Gainsbourg and Yvan Attal in performances worthy of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Not rated (adult themes, drug use, brief nudity).

Original title: Mon chien Stupide

Reviews

Crazy and scathing, subtle and touching. In a word: brilliant. Emilie Leoni - Télé Loisirs

Fante’s style is punchy, Attal’s film too, with some added tenderness. (My Dog Stupid) is rhythmic, funny, biting; the characters are deeply endearing. Isabelle Magnier - Télé 7 Jours

(A) light-hearted yet ferocious comedy about a failing fifty-something artist’s mid-life crisis. Fabien Lemercier - Cineuropa