This London-set story about a rough sleeper searching for his lost canine is well-intentioned but feels far-fetched
No, not the return of Sacha Baron Cohen’s outrageous Austrian
fashion reporter. This Bruno – minus the umlaut – is a beautiful brown vizsla, the canine companion of a rough sleeper in Karl Golden’s London-set drama. It’s a well-intentioned look at homelessness if a bit soap-opera-ish at times, and perhaps not entirely authentic about the challenges of getting off the streets.
Diarmaid Murtagh plays Irishman Daniel who’s been crashing in an empty lockup near a railway line in Hackney with his dog Bruno. Golden pushes the camera right up close to Daniel’s face as he tramps the streets, amplifying the noise of screeching trains and rumbling traffic; we feel his stress levels. Murtagh nicely underplays it: head down, avoiding eye contact, battened down against the world. There’s a terrific scene where he bumps into someone from his old life, a former colleague. A ripple of shame passes over his face as the guy pretends not to notice his filthy clothes.