Hot Dog Review: A Ridiculous Action Buddy Cop Film

Release date: April 6, 2021
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed By: Torsten Künstler
Written By: Lo Malinke, Tripper Clancy
Starring: Til Schweiger, Matthias Schweighöfer, Anne Schäfer

When an ambassador's daughter is kidnapped, two elite officers must join forces to track her down. Despite their differences the two men are partnered up and must work together to find the missing girl.

Hot Dog brings together two of Germany's biggest stars, Til Schweiger and Matthias Schweighöfer for a ridiculous, slapstick buddy cop film.  The premise is standard fare for this genre: one explosive, badass (Schweiger) is paired with an inexperienced do gooder (Schweighöfer) to solve the crime.  And your enjoyment of the film will very much depend on how you like their dynamic.  Schweiger definitely plays a more pronounced alpha in this film, someone who will shoot first and ask questions later.  He also is extremely mean to Schweighöfer, calling him names and demeaning his abilities.  But Schweighöfer does his best to unwittingly annoy Schweiger, as his character is a by the book officer with a photographic memory and extreme knowledge of regulations.  And together they do have a fun dynamic, espeically later in the film.  And when they are joined by Schäfer for their rescue mission, the fun, chemistry, and tension are ratcheted up.

And your enjoyment of this film will definitely depend on your appetite for crude and slapstick humor.  I thought that the film was funny and definitely had laugh out loud moements.  Some of the jokes felt dated or were off putting, but overall the movie has a stupid, harmless humor that will put a smile on your face.  And the dub for the American release is pretty goood.  You can tell it is a dubbed version, but overall the conversation is fluid and the jokes have been updated for American audiences with American references.  Hot Dog was a critical bomb in Germany but I enjoyed the film.  It wasn't a great movie, heck at times it wasn't a good movie, but it was an enjoyable film that had some endearing characters and plenty of comedy and heart.  It's not an amazing film but you will enjoy your evening with this unlikely duo.

Hot Dog's enjoyable dynamic between Schweiger, Schäfer, and Schweighöfer, silly action, and good English dub will make for an entertaining evening with these unlikely partners.

Rent it.

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Hot Dog is available digitally and on demand on April 6, 2021. 

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