WPFF 2016: Ringgo the Dog Shooter

Ringgo (Sandino Martin) is a dog shooter. No, he doesn't shoot dogs with drugs or bullets, he's the guy that helps dogs in heat mate with other dogs. One day, after his mentor is put out of commission by some illness (acted like a heart attack, looks like a stroke) he is recruited by dog lover Bong (Janice de Belen) to help take care of her dogs.

The dog metaphors are piled on thick from the start. Ringgo is like a wild dog himself during most of the first half of the film: he is easily distracted, he is impulsive, rude and uncouth, and he is prone to numerous doglike behavioral tics (props to Sandino Martin for making it mostly work.) At the same time, he comes across one of Bong's rescued dogs, Inca, whose past history of abuse mirrors his own. He begins to form a bond with the dog.

Bong's character tames Ringgo as he does the same to Inca, and the central theme of the film has something to do with the struggle between his animal instincts and his humanity and compassion. It asks us if people who have been so badly damaged by fate are worth saving. Conceptually, it's good stuff.

Unfortunately, the execution betrays the concept's promise. The film's tone is uneven and confusing. At times it pretends to be a gritty social realist film, while at other times it descends into overwrought, even cheesy melodrama. A romantic sideplot feels rushed, and ultimately turns out to be inconsequential. While some of the film's characters are LGBT, it doesn't really offer anything new, idea-wise, to the existing body of LGBT themed works. The drama is ramped up to ridiculous  levels especially near the climax, leading to a rather cringeworthy sequence where characters exchange high fives after all is said and done. And let's not forget the huge fake looking penis and the cartoonishly grotesque torrent of blood that gushed out of... some imaginary artery... during said climax.

You can ignore some of the cheese and the more superfluous elements and end up with a relatively enjoyable experience, but you're left with only the barest of bones to gnaw on.