‘DogMan’ Review — Luc Besson’s latest almost defies description

A review of the new thriller, in theaters now

I went to see Luc Besson’s new thriller DogMan knowing nearly nothing about it, simply because I enjoy seeing Caleb Landry Jones play a fucked-up little freak. I had no idea what I was in for. Here’s the best way I can summarize this movie: he stars as Douglas, a hyper-religious, Shakespeare-obsessed guy in a wheelchair who can communicate with dogs and also does drag and fights gangs.

You’re either already sold, or you’re out.

The movie opens on Douglas, bloodied and disheveled, in full Marilyn Monroe, “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” drag. Douglas is driving a box truck with dozens of dogs in the back when he’s arrested. The state assigns a psychologist named Evelyn (Jojo T. Gibbs) to interview the unusually-verbose eccentric; after all, there are multiple bodies at the abandoned high school where he’s been living, and the police would love to know how they got there. Most of the movie is then told in flashback, cutting back and forth between DogMan’s formative experiences and his long interview with Evelyn.

We learn that Douglas grew up in a backyard dog cage, tossed in among dozens of mutts by a religious father (Clemens Schick) who ran dogfights for a living. Unlike his twisted…