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Underdog
A documentary by Tommy Hyde 82 minutes, color, 2022
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| Synopsis
Doug Butler is a hardscrabble Vermont dairy farmer with an offbeat passion � dog mushing. A local folk hero, Doug�s ease with cows, dogs and people is a joy to behold. And when he trains his team of mutts on the family farm with a dream to compete at the world championships in Alaska, his teenage exuberance seems to erase the tired lines on his sixty-five year old face.
Meticulously captured over the course of a decade, Underdog paints an intimate v�rit� portrait of Doug Butler as he puts a curiously optimistic twist on the family farm tragedies that have so marked American rural life. The resonance of Doug�s journey extends to all who have faced down loneliness, isolation and the struggle to make sense of forces beyond control. Watch the Trailer Reviews "Tommy Hyde�s heartwarming documentary traces the life of an aging Vermont dairy farmer. Hyde�s subtlety as a filmmaker, along with the fabulous, eccentric central figure, bring to mind David Lynch�s The Straight Story. Both films are remarkable for how seemingly unremarkable they are. Stick with it, and the film�s subliminal power will sneak up on you." - Alex Saveliev, FILM THREAT "UNDERDOG is much more than an immersion into the grim realities of life on a small Vermont dairy farm. It is a celebration of the kind of grit, humor, passion, optimism, and resilience that is needed to make such a life work. You�re going to just love this film and its forward-looking ending." - Richard Alaniz, KPFK Film Club "Illuminates the emotional toll of being a farmer today, and the deep resilience, optimism and joy that also comes with rural life."- Congresswoman Becca Balint Links More about this film's theatrical release
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