Back to trending
Hounddog

Hounddog

Drama · Music · 2008

A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.

Movie details

Hounddog

“Every heart has an awakening. Every soul needs a song.”

2008 Drama · Music 1h 42m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Hounddog?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Mo' Better Blues

Mo' Better Blues

Drama · 1990

Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.

Beats

Beats

Drama · 2019

An agoraphobic hip-hop prodigy and a disgraced former music manager cross paths in Chicago’s South Side and help each other face demons of their pasts.

Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations

Music · 2012

The story of music legend Terri Hooley, a key figure in Belfast's punk rock scene. Hooley founded the Good Vibrations store from which a record label sprung, representing bands such as The Undertones, Rudi and The Outcasts.

To Write Love on Her Arms

To Write Love on Her Arms

Drama · 2015

The story follows 19-year-old Renee who has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. But Renee’s life is that of a darker tale: she’s a young woman battling addiction, depression and self-injury. In a creative blend of artistic fantasy balanced with harsh reality, the movie follows Renee on her courageous journey towards recovery.

A

A

Drama · 2017

A young alcoholic ambient musician locks himself in his apartment on a dangerous seven day bender as he attempts to finish his upcoming album.

Battle of the Year

Battle of the Year

Music · 2013

A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.

Honey: Rise Up and Dance

Honey: Rise Up and Dance

Music · 2018

Street dancer Skyler comes out of the shadow of her trained dancer sister, Tosha, & joins a dance competition with the Honey dance studio; the prize is a college scholarship.

Lucky Them

Lucky Them

Drama · 2013

More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.

Strange Weather

Strange Weather

Drama · 2016

Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.

Stomp the Yard

Stomp the Yard

Drama · 2007

After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black, Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he is courted by the top two campus fraternities, both of which want and need his fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Deborah Kampmeier

Written by

Deborah Kampmeier

Dakota Fanning

Dakota Fanning

Lewellen

O

Oliver Clayton-Luce

Boy 3

Isabelle Fuhrman

Isabelle Fuhrman

Grasshopper

C

Cody Hanford

Buddy

Piper Laurie

Piper Laurie

Grammie

David Morse

David Morse

Daddy

Afemo Omilami

Afemo Omilami

Charles

Court is in session

Put Hounddog on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.