Puppy

I have just seen this movie at a premiere in Auckland it has a limited release coming up and I would say its worth a trip to the cinema....Its a thought provoking piece that gives you the chance to decide on the characters early on and then revisit those decisions many times over throughout....who needs Hollywood $$ this movie is well acted and even meeting the 'real' actors before the viewing didn't detract from the performance on screen.... This movie actually allows you to explore your own thoughts and reactions to events rather than moving too quickly to appreciate the dilemmas each character is facing....well paced My main concern during the film was the sound....Australian movies seem to have a 'sound' and this is no exception but the occasional 'distance' in the sound may have been the small venue we were watching in.

Though not without its faults it manages to straddle the line between caustic dark humor and edgy drama. There are many unique moments and great ideas, mixed in with some wickedly funny dialog and the kind of meanness that strikes a chord with the secret bitch inside everyone. Mostly a two-hander, Puppy takes its time unfolding. If you are expecting blood and guts horror, or chasing people up stairs and into bathrooms, then Puppy is not for you. The film is more concerned with understanding the two disconnected souls who collide and reshape each other. Nadia Townsend is a revelation as the smart mouthed, con artist Liz. Bernard Curry does an admirable, if at times slightly off-key take on the benevolent but psychotic tow truck driver Aiden. Supporting cast are adequate. With Sally Bull stealing the scenes allotted to her.

It's likely that Puppy was more ambitious than its budget allowed. Reportedly it was made for 250 grand, which is about the cost of fruit that gets wasted on the average Hollywood set. If that's true, then the film is a credit to the filmmakers and minor plotting problems and occasionally rough production values are easily forgiven.

Recommended for indie film fans. If you love predictable Hollywood films, you probably won't get Puppy. But it has to have one of the best lines in recent memory - Liz (playing with her delusional captor's mind) - "You're a psycho. I'm just @#$%ing with you."

This is a very funny, very odd, intoxicating little film. It sucks you in and then it spits you out not sure if you should be feeling so good about such morally questionable people and their very strange relationship. It reminded me a bit of Secretary in the way that it's an unusual love story but this goes a bit further because I'm not sure it's really a love story in the end or just two people who end up in a relationship built on lies and manipulation. No idea why it's so charming given this predicament, but a lot comes down to excellent performances and the way the film is shot - very nice sequences and moody.

Though the story seems a bit familiar at first, the execution and the acting are this film's main strengths. It's a story about a guy who rescues a woman from committing suicide and then takes her to his remote house where we learn he has mistaken her for his missing wife. You guesses it, he's off his rocker. At this point I was circumspect about where the rest of the film would go, but kudos to the writer (whose also the director), it really took off when they were alone together in the house. The two lead actors are very good and could easily be the next Australian exports. At times they were funny, charming, mean, clever, dumb, unattractive and sexy - they are both pretty good looking. A couple of the minor supporting actors were a bit weak, but the one who played the sister was really good too.

I liked Puppy because it was unpredictable.There were a few scenes that were pretty rude but that's Australians! The film is beautifully shot - not your low budget crappy production qualities - real film, real sound and a nice score.

If you like stories with alternative narratives (like Almodovar) then you'll be able to go along for the ride.

Well, my girlfriend seemed to think the main guy was handsome without his beard at least. I can't imagine this film will be released in America so I'm lucky to have seen it at the Philadelphia International Film Festival.

Overall the movie makes great use of its hour and a half running time, being consistently absorbing throughout its entirety. The story is rather standard of captive growing to trust their captor fare and then turning the tables on them, but it is wittily written enough to make the concept seem fresh. Much of this has to due with the superb straight-forward direction without a lot of tricky camera work, so that in some ways it is reminiscent of a Dogma film. Especially nice is that there is no over- or melodramatic score interrupting the natural flow of the scenes which is always a plus Overall a highly recommended film.