El Perro

A road movie about an unskilled, out-of-work 52-year-old may not sound like a feel-good experience, but it’s hard not to be won over by the deadpan humor and unabashed optimism of El Perro. After middle-aged Juan (Villegas) loses his job at the local gas station and is forced to take up residence with his daughter, an elderly widow offers him her late husband’s purebred Dogo Argentino in return for a favor. As Juan and “Lechien” set out on a journey across Argentine Patagonia, director Sorn gets plenty of comic mileage out of the relationship between the humble mechanic and the aristocratic canine. (Opens Fri; Cinema Village.) —Erin Clements