‘Wiener-Dog’ is long on misanthropic humor

Master misanthrope Todd Solondz has made a career with films that luxuriate in dysfunction and despair yet somehow remain engaging.

The conceit of his latest exercise in droll negativity is presenting the misery from the viewpoint of the cute dog, who finds herself being herded from owner to owner, each with their own distinct shades of the pathetic.

What makes this watchable is that Solondz (“Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Happiness”) knows how to create vivid characters, even when all of them seem to be painfully resigned to the meaningless of life.

The first of four segments begins when the dog is rescued from a shelter and becomes the pet of a sickly boy (Keaton Nigel Cooke, solid) and his self-absorbed parents (Tracy Betts and Julie Delpy, at her chirpily caustic best).

The next owners on the dog’s tour include a pathologically struggling screenwriter (Danny DeVito) and a resentful, ailing woman (Ellen Burstyn, brilliant) who wears giant sunglasses to hide the light of truth that she has wasted her time on Earth.

David Lewis is a Bay Area freelance writer.