Set in Patagonia, an unemployed man has his luck change after being given a Dogo Argentino dog for helping a stranded woman on the highway.

Coco (Juan Villegas), the main character, is first seen trying to sell knives to a group of oil workers.

In fact, throughout the entire film, he never manages to sell a single knife, but he ends up giving two away: one to a security guard as a bribe, and one to a cabaret singer he meets on his journey.

Coco is a good natured man, despite his ill luck, and he is seen helping a woman on the road whose car has broken down.

People ask him to guard buildings with the dog; a chance meeting with the bank manager leads him to Walter, a trainer.

Upon finding the dog again, coupling with a stray female mutt, Coco sets off into a hopeful future with two young hitchhikers in tow.

"[2] Ed Gonzalez thought highly of the film, and wrote, "The jewel in the crown of The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Latin Beat program last year was Carlos Sorín's El perro, which grabs the warm humanist baton from the director's Minimal Stories and heads straight for an existential finish line.

With tender understatement, Sorín catalogs the depressing embarrassments an unemployed mechanic (Juan Villegas) is subjected to when he's unable to secure work or earn money for his homemade knives.