Dog Park (1999)

What makes it different from others?

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

An Exercise In Nonsense

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Andy (Luke Wilson) has just been dumped by his girlfriend. To add insult to injury, she took the dog as well. Andy, not used to being on his own, meets Lorna (Natasha Henstridge) in a bar and a few sparks fly. Yet, Lorna, who has recently lost her boyfriend as well, is not interested in starting anything new and rejects Andy's advances. Jeri (Janeane Garofalo), as Andy's close co-worker, arranges for him to participate in a bachelor auction. Unfortunately, Kieran, loose and crazy, bids for him and promptly moves in with him. Complicated? You bet! Oh, and everyone walks their dogs in the dog park and takes their canine friends to obedience school with the same dog psychologist. Will the doggies get their diplomas even as their mixed-up owners try to straighten out their lives?This is, by no means, a successful romantic comedy. Instead, it falls into the category of an interesting also-ran. The main characters are appealing (Janeane Garofolo looks wonderful) but the plot's haphazard storyline is always throwing in more loose ends without connecting them in a logical fashion. The humor is not laugh-out-loud but rather mild and quirky. Fans of romantic comedies will probably stick this one out and enjoy it. Luke Wilson's ever-growing fan club will want to see it, also. All others will be less enchanted and find it a off-beat diversion with no memorable qualities.

I thought that this movie was a bit far fetched, that it all fell together a bit to easily (as romantic comedies sometimes have a tendency to do). It's a little short on laughs, the emphasis is definitely on romance over comedy. However, Luke Wilson is, as always, charming, and overall the movie is an enjoyable, easy way to pass the time.

I wouldn't class this with The Godfather, but it's a decent way to spend an afternoon. Filled with kooks and freaks (this was after all directed by one of the "Kids in the Hall") this movie ambles about pleasantly and manages to provoke a smile or two. I much prefered the supporting players to the leads, I found Natasha Henstridge and Luke Wilson a little stiff, but that could have been the script. There are not really a lot of dogs in this movie, so if that is your thing, go see "Cats and Dogs".

My girlfriend and I wanted to see this movie for months because (a) we like visiting dog parks, (b) we like Janeane Garofalo, and (c) we, okay, well, at least *I* like Kids In The Hall.We looked for it and looked for it at the Blockbusters in our neighborhood, and we just couldn't find it anywhere. We thought that was odd, particularly based on the 'name' talent involved.Finally, I found it for sale for $0.99 at a Blockbuster 'pre-viewed movies' clearance sale. AND.... even that scant amount of money was too much to pay. At least now I have a tape I can use to tape over.I wish we'd seen it in the theater -- it would have been quite a bit of fun to stand up and lustily BOO, BOO, BOO. Groaningly awful - and *NOT* in the fun 'so bad, it's good' way which you might expect. I do like Bruce McCulloch, I really do. And we really wanted to like this movie. But this movie had nothing of his quirky sensibility.The script is unbelievably awful and devoid of any humor. Mark McKinney's dog psychologist character would be funny in a 2 minute KITH sketch, but does not cut it as the only 'comic relief' in a 91 minute movie.Human beings simply do not communicate in this way. Not even Canadians! The generalizations about 'the way dating works' are the kinds of things 14 year olds might say to each other, not these 30 year old (+/- 5 years) characters.The camera work and editing do nothing to help this weak script. There is one potentially good scene, as another reviewer pointed out, where a girl and guy discuss whether to eat first or to **** first. With good direction and editing, this conversation has at least some potential for lasting humor. However, we see the scene in a single cut from about 20 feet away, where we can't even see the characters' faces.Consistency problems show clear lack of thought and care. Most glaringly, and at the risk of nit-picking, Luke Wilson's dull character makes a point of the fact that after their first date he doesn't know Natasha H's character's name. Then he has flowers delivered to her at work and follows up with a phone call where he asks for her by name. Okay, I figured, I guess now he knows her name, we must have missed that scene where he found out her name. Then, an hour later in the film -- he still doesn't know her name. Huh???If you want to see it 'just for the dogs,' don't bother. The dogs get about 10 minutes of screen time, and none of them are particularly cute.A WASTE OF TIME, unless your life's goal is to see every movie Janeane Garofolo has ever been in. Her character in this one, however, is completely unmemorable and you can't be faulted for missing it.