Bad Boy

Bad Boy, screened at the American Film Market 2002 under its working title "Dawg", overcomes a lightweight premise with some believable acting by Denis Leary and Elizabeth Hurley.

Leary is Dawg who is so busy womanizing he arrives too late for his grandmother's funeral but, no matter, she has left him a cool million subject to one condition. As explained by estate executor Anna Lockhart (Hurley), Dawg must contact at least a dozen of the scores of women he has loved and left during his lifetime and beg for their forgiveness. Reluctantly, Dawg sets out on his odyssey which takes him, and the lawyer, to venues throughout California.

Director Victoria Hotchberg, better known for her work in episodic television, keeps the pace lively and interesting and imparts a degree of charm to the project. Not a major film but an entertaining candidate for anyone's date-movie list.

Doug (Denis Leary) is a financial planner who makes the mistake of having a fling with an older woman, for she turns out to be his boss' wife. Poor Dawgie is promptly fired. To add insult to injury, the small time cad's grandmother dies, too. Late for the funeral, Doug nevertheless is startled to meet his grandmother's lawyer, Anna (Elizabeth Hurley) who promptly informs him that he, Doug, is the only heir. But, wait. Although he could inherit a million flat, there are conditions. Doug's grandmother knew all too well of her relative's penchant for flings with a long line of women and, therefore, her will decrees that Doug must get twelve old flames to say the words "I forgive you" before he can touch the dough. Horrors! Yet, Doug is a savvy operator and when he and Anna start on their journey to track down his ex's, she is amazed to find he can sometimes trick his way into getting the women to speak the appropriate phrase. Will he succeed in pocketing the money? This is a humorous and clever romcom but, as it walks on the wild side from time to time, can not be described as "good, clean fun". If you love Doris Day, your eyebrows might raise a bit over this one. Even so, Leary and Hurley are a dynamite combination, very funny and engaging. The west coast scenery is also quite nice while the costuming is first rate. All of the movie's production values are fine, too. As for the script, it is very comical, as some of Doug's past girlfriends are eccentric, to say the least. If you a seeker of funny love stories, you should check this one out. It is not a "dawg" at all but, rather, should fill an otherwise dull evening with some big laughs and sighs.

The sex comedy is a dying breed of movie, kept alive be the

occassional success of movies such as the American Pie trilogy

and the faint memory of classics such as Nerds, Porkies, and

other 'coming of age' films.

Bad Boy (known as Dawg in Australia) has an interesting enough

premise. To inherit a million dollars womaniser Doug 'Dawg'

Munford must get apologies from twelve of his one night stands.

Doug (played by Denis Leary) is accompanied by Anne Lockheart

(Liz Hurley), who must witness these apologies for the inheritance

to be earned.

Ok, Liz Hurley looks good. She looks very good. In fact, let's take a

moment to reflect on just how good looking Liz Hurley is. Now, if

this movie was a porno, that'd be great- but it's not, it's a comedy

(or an attempt at one). Whilst drama may be seen as the 'true'

cinema, comedy takes a lot of ability to achieve, and Liz does not

have that ability. The movie would have been worse without Denis

Leary, who is at his usual sarcastic best, working as hard as he

can with a script completely devoid of any real wit.

Am I the only person in the world who finds it slightly unbelievable

that not one of his twelve 'conquests' is remotely normal. I know,

for comedic purposes it's funny that he's slept with twins, a

pornstar, a scary cat woman, and even a girl who has become a

man- but if you're going to stretch believability, it needs to be done

well. I didn't find myself laughing once during the movie, and that's

a mean feat.

So often someone decides to make a 'sex comedy' and thinks

that's all they need to do to make it funny. It's true, sex is a funny

act. It's also a big drawcard for a male audience (who we must

assume this chauvanistic piece was constructed for), but you

need to either have some funny situations or some funny

one-liners. This film had none of them.

See if you liked: Denis Leary. Liz Hurley. Strengths: Liz Hurley and a supporting cast of cute women Weaknesses: Lacks comedy. Liz Hurley's acting. My Rating: 2.5 out of 10

Most of this movie is a would-be sex comedy, but it's rarely even remotely funny. The characters are unappealing, the situation is hard to accept, and the plot works itself out mechanically, with few details of any interest.



But surprisingly, near the end it unexpectedly swerves into more serious material, and is far more successful. The actual ending is unexpected and even touching. Maybe trying to make this as a comedy was a mistake.

You can counter a familier subject in this movie; A man has to do a mission to inherit a fortune from will. (Bachelor, Brewster's Millions etc.)

Douglas "Dawg" (Leary) is our man. He is selfish, rude and totally not caring about what a woman thinks after he gets his sex. He doesn't mostly remember them afterwards either. When his grandmother dies (which it seems doesn't affect Dawg either), in her will it is written that Douglas can inherit his grandmother's fortune which he wasn't aware of worth a million dollars. This is where Lawyer Anna Lockheart (Hurley) comes in. She's to witness that Dawg gets to hear "I forgive you" from his twelve ex-girlfriends.

I really didn't have a laughter while watching that movie nor I didn't feel any warmness as a romantic picture but I can't say I regretted watching it. Personally I think the ending could be better but well... It's as good as it gets. 7/10