Dog Park

This is quite an odd film, but pleasant throughout due to the likeable actors and some laugh out loud moments. There are musings throughout about dating and love, none of which really hit the mark. The ending was somewhat unsatisfying, and loose ends weren't really tied up. In addition, Bruce McCullough, from Kids in the Hall, who directed and wrote the film, somewhat underutilized himself in the movie. He could have added some more hilarious moments for himself, but his Kids In the Hall partner Mark McKinney gets most of the laughs as a dog psychiatrist. I appreciated that it seemed to be trying something new in the field of romantic comedy, and was less predictable than many similar films. Overall, I did enjoy it and would say it is worth a rental, but I can't really justify giving it more than 6/10.

I'm a big fan of The Kids In The Hall. I'm an even bigger fan of the "romantic comedy" genre. And, hell, sure, I like dogs, too.

However, while I loved watching the actors and actresses in "Dog Park" (great cast!), I had a problem watching the characters. More often than not, it seemed as if i was simpy observing people recite memorized lines they didn't really believe, while they moved from scene to scene without feeling or knowing why or how they got there.

Whether it was because of the writing, direction, or lack of focus, the movie itself, rather than the characters in it, ultimately seemed to have the biggest feeling of hesitancy and fear of commitment.

I wanted to like this movie. It was an interesting concept of people meeting at a dog park as they struggled to establish relationships. There was good comedic actors and cute pooches. But since it was supposed to be a romantic comedy, I didn't see much comedy and even less romance. All the characters were struggling and not having much enjoyment in their relationships. The actors Luke Wilson and Janeane Garofalo did their job OK but were working with weak material. None of it jelled and some of the characters such as the dog trainer sounded retarded. The dialog was wimpy and desperate at times. Sad. Lame. Lame. Lame.

Jeez, I think I saw a different movie. Let's see.....nope, it WAS "Dog Park."

Apparently we have a whole class of film students here who were given the assignment, "Pan a Film and Get Your Review Published" and IMDb was the only place that would put them in print.

Dog Park is fine. It's nice. It's even intriguing. Its humor is low key, except where it's laugh-out-loud, which was in several places when I saw it (25 yr. old black woman and 50 yr. old white guy, 15 rows apart, the only 2 in the theater; we laughed at different parts, but we laughed).

Luke Wilson is terrific, a curious blend of David Duchoveny and Bill Pullman. I'll go to his next movie. Natasha Henstridge can actually act! Brava!

OK, so it's not an Oscar contender. I go into a theater to enjoy a movie, not to trash it, and I enjoyed this one just fine.

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.