The Dog Problem (2006)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Really Surprised!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Best movie ever!

Intriguing, and more importantly, believable dialog is the hallmark of this underrated film. I only learned after seeing this on TV that the writer was the Scott Cain, son of Michael, who played the hip photographer who was the buddy of the awkward introspective main character Solo, played by Giovanni Ribisi.The two, with their different personalities, still conveyed a genuine connection that was the sustaining thread of this pastiche of screwball comedy and character exploration. Solo is introduced having his last session with his shrink, depicted Don Cheadle.He follows up on the Doc's suggestion to get a dog and then begins the interplay of goons, ultra rich heiress, more goons, threats, strippers....all amazingly entertaining.And then there's the dog, credited in the film as "Jimmy the Dog" who plays his part with aplomb and deeply felt affection. His main function is to allow Solo and his romantic interest, Lola, to "meet cute" and form their own connection.-a bit of spoiler here, beware- Now, we are back to the writer, Scott Cain. I suspect that as he was dong the final edit it hit him, " This is a friggen Disney movie. I can't let it end, you know, Happy. That will never do." So, by destroying what we came to expect, and deserve, a Hollywood ending, he betrayed the essence of the story.So, this is my caveat to achieve my 9 stars. When Solo is in his new Hotel Room let's make our own ending. The hell with Scott's screenplay. Let that knock on the door be Lola with a heartfelt demand that they not throw away this chance for happiness, that they make a life, the three of them together.And then flash back in your mind to every movie that left you feeling good in spite of those tears in your eyes. Then, by this minor collaboration, we have one great film.

Maybe we Aussies just have a totally different sense of humour and therein my lie the only problem here. I have a database of all the DVDs I own (including those received as gifts - which this was) and so, when entering a new one, I always refer to IMDb for such info as genre, runtime, director, leads etc. When entering this, I noted that it was a comedy and so I decided to watch it at a time when I wanted something light and a good laugh. Well, it was neither! There were absolutely NO laughs at all and an inordinate amount of gratuitous profanity (are there REALLY radio announcers allowed to broadcast the sort of filth that Steve Jones dishes out? What if a decent child happened to tune to his station?).Rather than enjoy a good laugh (or even a little giggle) I found the whole thing thoroughly depressing. I have given it 3 out of 10 but, to be honest, I don't know what those 3 are for! I suppose the basics of lighting and sound weren't too bad! We have an ostensibly stone-broke loser (Giovanni Ribisi) who still seems to be able to drive a reasonable car (who pays for the fuel?) and live in what could be a nice apartment (who pays his rent?) Given the opportunity of forming what might have been some sort of meaningful relationship with what turned out to be a nice girl, he even blew that! Perhaps it was she (Lynn Collins) who earned this movie the 3 points! The fact that she works as a stripper rather than a hairdresser is one of the few aspects of this movie that makes sense ("I make as much in one night doing this as I do in two weeks' hairdressing").Unless you want to get depressed and bored to the teeth, forget it!

The Dog Problem is a smart love story of sorts with prefect comedy timing. I was overwhelmed on how excellent on every level this movie was. Scott Caan was already a proved actor. The Dog Problem showed his talents as not only a writer but a director to boot. Brilliant work! How does a gem of a movie like this with a talented everything fly under the radar of Hollywood? This movie is far superior to 90% of movies shown in theaters. The dog Spot was a scene stealer. The part of Spot walking with that song nobody walks in LA was funny. Scott Caan the story simple. Too many movies try to do too much. This a must see.

I've always felt that Giovanni Ribisi is the most underused (along with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Zooey Deschanel) and one of the most talented actors working today. Further proof of that is his fantastic performance in this light-hearted, mediocre independent comedy directed and written by Scott Caan. The film centers around a broke, self-centered and hopelessly depressed writer named Solo (Giovanni) who after a year of seeing a therapist (Don Cheadle) five days a week decides to get a dog. Getting this dog begins a wild adventure that involves his best friend (played by Caan), a stripper whom he grows a strong affection for (Lynn Collins), her friend (the criminally underused Sarah Shahi), a gangster whom he owes money to (Kevin Corrigan) and a spoiled rich girl straight out of My Super Sweet 16 (Mena Suvari).It's a fun film about the true wealth of finding love with some genuinely hilarious scenes scattered throughout. I've never liked Scott Caan as an actor; I always find him playing the same arrogant, dirtbag character and I really don't like his sense of humor so that didn't help me in trying to enjoy the film. Also, while the subplots with the gangster (who we never find out how he got connected to Solo or why Solo owes him money) and the spoiled girl offer some great opportunities for Giovanni to show off his comedic talent, their appearance in the film ultimately feels like pointless filler. But the film manages to succeed due to the great work by the always underrated Giovanni Ribisi who adds so much charm, quirk and hilarity to every film he's in that it's impossible not to love him and it is pretty entertaining throughout.