# Wiener-Dog (film)
**Wiener-Dog** is a 2016 American comedy-drama written and directed by [Todd Solondz](https://www.edgepedia.org/todd-solondz), in which a single dachshund is passed from one owner to the next across four loosely connected stories about mortality, regret, and unfulfilled lives. It premiered at the 2016 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) and received a limited United States theatrical release on June 24, 2016, distributed by IFC Films.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wiener_dog) • [2](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3766453761/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Todd Solondz, his first feature since *Dark Horse* (2011)[4](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/wiener-dog-sundance-review/5099233.article) |
| Structure | Four segments linked by one dachshund, divided by a musical intermission featuring "The Ballad of the Wiener-Dog"[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) |
| Principal cast | Greta Gerwig, Danny DeVito, Ellen Burstyn, Julie Delpy, Tracy Letts, Kieran Culkin, Zosia Mamet, Keaton Nigel Cooke[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wiener_dog/cast-and-crew) |
| Premiere and release | Sundance Film Festival, January 2016; US limited release June 24, 2016 (IFC Films)[2](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3766453761/) |
| Box office | $477,453 domestic, $257,297 international, $734,750 worldwide[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3766453761/) |
| Critical reception | 74% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (114 reviews); Metascore 66 on Metacritic[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wiener_dog) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/wiener-dog/critic-reviews/) |
| Rating and runtime | R (some disturbing content, language); about 88 to 90 minutes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wiener_dog) • [8](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/wiener-dog/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
The film follows one dachshund through a series of owners, each segment marking a later stage of life. The dog is renamed by each new owner: the boy Remi calls her Wiener-Dog, Dawn's vet clinic and road trip companion is Doody, and the elderly Nana names her Cancer, explaining to her puzzled granddaughter that "it seemed right".[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/sundance-2016-wiener-dog) • [10](https://oldyorkeronline.com/wiener-dog/) The Washington Post described the film as less a cohesive movie than a collection of four disjointed shorts, divided into two groups of two by a jaunty musical intermission.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/with-wiener-dog-filmmaker-todd-solondz-serves-up-his-usual-fare/2016/06/30/43144978-3c9a-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html)
**The four segments.** In the first, Remi (Keaton Nigel Cooke), a boy recovering from cancer, is given the dog by his father Danny ([Tracy Letts](https://www.edgepedia.org/tracy-letts)) over the objections of his mother Dina ([Julie Delpy](https://www.edgepedia.org/julie-delpy)), whose answers to Remi's questions about death, spaying, and faith are cheerfully alarming.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) The second segment is a road trip in which Dawn Wiener ([Greta Gerwig](https://www.edgepedia.org/greta-gerwig)), now a veterinary assistant, runs into her former classmate and bully Brandon (Kieran Culkin) at a convenience store and drives with him and the dog to visit Brandon's brother, who has Down syndrome.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/with-wiener-dog-filmmaker-todd-solondz-serves-up-his-usual-fare/2016/06/30/43144978-3c9a-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html) • [12](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/14/wiener-dog-review-depression-death-dachshund) The third follows Dave Schmerz (Danny DeVito), a once-successful screenwriter now teaching indifferent film students who consider him and his advice obsolete.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) In the final segment, the ailing Nana (Ellen Burstyn) receives a visit from her granddaughter Zoe (Zosia Mamet) and Zoe's artist boyfriend Fantasy (Michael James Shaw), who have come seeking money; the visit turns surreal when identical little girls appear to show Nana the different lives she might have led.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) • [11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/with-wiener-dog-filmmaker-todd-solondz-serves-up-his-usual-fare/2016/06/30/43144978-3c9a-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html)
**The intermission.** Halfway through the film, an old-fashioned "Intermission" shows the dachshund, now gigantic, strolling through [Monument Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/monument-valley) and past the White House to a Spaghetti-Western-style song, "The Ballad of the Wiener-Dog", written by [Marc Shaiman](https://www.edgepedia.org/marc-shaiman) and Scott Wittman.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) • [2](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/) Solondz told interviewers there was no reason [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino) should have a monopoly on playing with the intermission.[13](https://dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Dallas-Voice-07-01-16.pdf)
## Connection to Welcome to the Dollhouse
The second segment functions as a quasi-sequel to Solondz's 1995 breakthrough *Welcome to the Dollhouse*, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1996. In that film, bullies called the unpopular seventh-grader Dawn Wiener "wiener-dog"; here the adult Dawn, played by Greta Gerwig rather than the original [Heather Matarazzo](https://www.edgepedia.org/heather-matarazzo), reunites with Brandon, played in 1995 by Brendan Sexton and here by [Kieran Culkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/kieran-culkin).[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/sundance-2016-wiener-dog) • [5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) • [14](https://kuwaittimes.com/uploads/imported_images/pdf/2016/jan/25/kt.pdf) Solondz had killed the Dawn Wiener character off in his 2004 film *Palindromes*, and told a Sundance audience that as a writer he liked creating different possible trajectories for her.[2](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/) He said he was emphatic that Gerwig and Culkin not emulate the young actors who originated the roles, seeking instead the emotional quality of the characters.[2](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/)
## Production
[Annapurna Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/annapurna-pictures) began principal photography in New York City in June 2015, with [Megan Ellison](https://www.edgepedia.org/megan-ellison) producing through [Annapurna](https://www.edgepedia.org/annapurna) alongside Christine Vachon of Killer Films.[15](https://www.screendaily.com/production/todd-solondzs-wiener-dog-starts-shoot/5089796.article) Edward Lachman, a two-time Oscar nominee for *Far From Heaven* and *Carol*, served as cinematographer.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) Two dogs combined to play the single central role.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/14/wiener-dog-review-depression-death-dachshund) American Humane monitored the animal action under its No Animals Were Harmed program with a Modified Certification; the scene in which the dog is hit by a truck was shot in segments using a fake dog and completed with CGI, and the real dog was never near a real car.[16](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/wiener-dog/)
## Reception
The film premiered at the Eccles Theatre at Sundance in January 2016, twenty years after *Welcome to the Dollhouse* won the Grand Jury Prize there.[2](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/) • [4](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/wiener-dog-sundance-review/5099233.article) Screen's review called it morose and jaundiced, uneven but relentlessly clever, and noted it was "not particularly out to make new friends".[4](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/wiener-dog-sundance-review/5099233.article) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 74% Tomatometer from 114 reviews, with a critics consensus that filmgoers predisposed to enjoy Solondz's black comedy will not be disappointed, while the audience Popcornmeter stands at 41% from more than 2,500 ratings; Metacritic records a Metascore of 66.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wiener_dog) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/wiener-dog/critic-reviews/) RogerEbert.com's review called it one of Solondz's sharpest visions of futility.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016)
**Box office.** Released in two theaters on June 24, 2016, the film expanded to a widest release of 73 theaters and earned $477,453 domestically and $257,297 internationally, for a worldwide total of $734,750.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3766453761/) At the Deauville Film Festival in 2016 it received the Jury Prize and the Revelations Prize, both for Solondz.[17](https://www.kcns.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/EuroIn-Film-2016-KATALOG-C5-1-136.pdf)
## Themes and influences
Solondz cited two disparate influences: [Robert Bresson](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-bresson)'s *Au Hasard Balthazar*, about a long-suffering donkey, and *Benji*, about a plucky mutt who rescues two kidnapped children; he told a Sundance audience he had hoped to make a film landing somewhere between the two.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/14/wiener-dog-review-depression-death-dachshund) • [2](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/) Critics placed the film in the tradition of the animal-as-witness structure, with the dog serving to highlight the failings of the humans around it and the owners' search for meaning as they move from childhood to old age.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/14/wiener-dog-review-depression-death-dachshund) • [5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016) [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker)'s Richard Brody, a film critic, called it one of the great animal movies and read its first two sections as middle-class life without art and its last two as the world of art, which is no happier.[18](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/todd-solondzs-exquisite-imperfect-wiener-dog) The film-school segment is self-referential, addressing critiques of Solondz's own work in the manner of his earlier film *Storytelling*.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016)
## References
1. [Wiener-Dog, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wiener_dog)
2. ['Wiener-Dog,' 'The Bad Kids,' and 2016's First Young Breakout, Sundance.org](https://www.sundance.org/blogs/wiener-dog-the-bad-kids-and-2016s-first-young-breakout-3/)
3. [Wiener-Dog, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3766453761/)
4. ['Wiener-Dog': Sundance Review, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/wiener-dog-sundance-review/5099233.article)
5. [Wiener-Dog movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wiener-dog-2016)
6. [Wiener-Dog: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wiener_dog/cast-and-crew)
7. [Wiener-Dog Critic Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/wiener-dog/critic-reviews/)
8. [Review: Wiener-Dog, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/wiener-dog/)
9. [Sundance 2016: "Wiener-Dog", RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/sundance-2016-wiener-dog)
10. [Wiener-Dog, Old Yorker](https://oldyorkeronline.com/wiener-dog/)
11. [With 'Wiener-Dog,' filmmaker Todd Solondz serves up his usual fare, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/with-wiener-dog-filmmaker-todd-solondz-serves-up-his-usual-fare/2016/06/30/43144978-3c9a-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html)
12. [Wiener-Dog review: depression, death… and a dachshund, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/14/wiener-dog-review-depression-death-dachshund)
13. [Dallas Voice, July 1, 2016](https://dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Dallas-Voice-07-01-16.pdf)
14. [Kuwait Times, January 25, 2016](https://kuwaittimes.com/uploads/imported_images/pdf/2016/jan/25/kt.pdf)
15. [Todd Solondz's 'Wiener-Dog' starts shoot, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/production/todd-solondzs-wiener-dog-starts-shoot/5089796.article)
16. [Wiener Dog (2016) Animal Action Report, American Humane](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/wiener-dog/)
17. [EuroIn Film 2016 catalog, KCNS](https://www.kcns.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/EuroIn-Film-2016-KATALOG-C5-1-136.pdf)
18. [Todd Solondz's Exquisite, Imperfect "Wiener-Dog", The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/todd-solondzs-exquisite-imperfect-wiener-dog)
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