Underdog

Underdog is a wonderful celebration of Doug Butler, a Vermont dairy farmer with a very big personality huge dreams of racing his dogs in Alaska's famed Iditarod. The low budget documentary is heartfelt, heartbreaking and heart melting all at once. This independent film shows the daily struggles of farming and how truly hard it is to keep a farm alive in this modern economy; the audience experiences birth, the sad death of farm animals, and the joy of the palpable love between Butler and his dogs. I will forever hold the images of Doug kissing his dogs, and them loving him back. His exuberance for life is infectious and spills over the hardships he faces daily.

The film elegantly captures the textures, sights and sounds of rural Vermont, from the pineappleweed in the driveway to the woodcock's song beckoning spring, and the omnipresence of manure. It was powerful and surreal to see home on the big screen, and left me feeling immense gratitude for life's little details. Doug's fiercely jovial and dedicated personality was on full display, his character ringing true to the man himself. His love for land and animal is a theme throughout. By the end of the film you will want to be Doug's friend, his biggest fan, and most certainly his sled racing partner.

You will find yourself immersed in Doug's life. His dairy farm and all the struggles of running a family business, his passion for dog racing, the seasons changing in Middlebury, Vermont.

It chronicles his struggles, but also his joys. You will be rooting for Doug in no time.

It is a window into rural America, the plights of small farms, and dogsled racing.

I enjoyed this film very much, it was, as another reviewer said it, "heartwarming and heart-wrenching" but definitely worth seeing.

Another important theme that comes up in the film is the higher suicide rate among farmers. I believe this film is relevant both for city dwellers and people that live in rural areas. The film maker and the subject of this documentary hope to help bring this film to rural places to start a conversation around this pressing topic.

Go see this film, it's the sweetest, most authentic movie I've seen so far this year.

Highly highly recommend!!! Very thoughtfully made film that gripped my attention and my heart from start to finish. Doug is a mesmerizing character and you can't help but cheer him on. Plenty of micro and macro themes to chew on after the credits roll too, so it makes for a good post-movie conversation. There's the inspiring storyline of Doug's indomitable optimism and sportsmanship. There's also a sober portrayal of the predicaments facing family farmers in Vermont and elsewhere in the U. S. Hyde doesn't shy away from these themes, but wisely let's the film do the talking so you can reach your own conclusions. I look forward to more stuff from Hyde! And best wishes to Doug, if you happen to read this!

Underdog is a heartwarming, heart-wrenching, hopeful, and hilarious vérité film. It shares Doug Butler's rollercoaster of a journey on his farm in Vermont and finding his way to Alaska. I found myself with tears in my eyes one moment, and then cackling alongside Doug the next.

The filmmaker beautifully captured the passage of time, and vulnerable moments with Doug, someone who clearly doesn't open up too often. Those glimpses into the hardships of Doug's life added a layer of complexity that make the high-points that much higher, and left me cheering Doug along at every turn.

Loved this film.