Stray Dog (2014) Reviews

• Portrait of Vietnam Vet biker, an American original, hits the mark

  Turfseer2015-02-07

  Director Debra Granik met biker and Vietnam Vet, Ronnie Hall, when he was an extra on the set of her "Winter's Bone," a 2010 Award Winner at the Sundance Festival. "Stray Dog" is the feel-good portrait of Mr. Hall, who proves to be far more nuanced than the expected stereotype of a biker and Vietnam Vet. What first becomes apparent is that Hall, although extremely proud of his country, is no warmonger. Quite the contrary, his experiences in Vietnam caused him considerable psychological damage, and he's not afraid to get emotional in front of Ms. Granik's camera. We see Hall meeting with his therapist from the Veteran's Administration, and he makes it clear that he's struggling with the horrors he experienced when he was a young soldier in Vietnam. The horror stories also belong to some of his buddies—one of them relating a story that he was witness to seeing a POW have his arms cut off by his captors. A good part of Hall's life involves traveling around the country on his motorcycle, attending ceremonies for fallen soldiers. Every year he makes a pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veteran's War Memorial in Washington, D.C. He also personally gets involved in helping the families of fallen soldiers. Notably Hall is prejudice free—helping a black woman (whose soldier daughter died a few years earlier), fix the floor in her home. Hall surprisingly is not at all anti-immigrant. In fact, his wife is Mexican, and a good part of the documentary focuses on how he helps her reunite with her two sons and bring them to the United States. Hall also is very supportive of his granddaughter, who gives birth to a child toward the end of the film. In addition to Hall, Ms. Granik does a more than excellent job of introducing us to his friends and family, who also defy the stereotypical description of typical "rednecks." "Stray Dog" may be a few minutes too long and is edited so that any significantly negative moments are cut, but Ronnie Hall emerges as a real American original who is the type of guy it would be an honor to meet in person.

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• Contemplative and low-key documentary about real Americans

  andychrist272015-02-05

  Had high hopes about this as Debra Granik is the director behind such captivating movies as Winter Bone and Down to the Bone. This, however, is a very low-key, unassuming documentary about his friend Ron Hall (who played this sinister Thump Milton character in Winter's Bone). This old Santa-looking fella is a biker and a former Vietnam veteran. This film shows him in several war veteran/biker events (I couldn't quite figure out if there's an actual separate subculture of war veteran bikers...it seems there is). Hall is also dating a Mexican woman and at some point later in the movie her twin sons from Mexico come over. It's a very quiet but thought-provoking film about average Americans in a very ordinary setting...largely concentrating on war traumas inside people and how to transcend the negative influences of war through emotional openness and human kindness.

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