Bad Boy

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.

Being an insomniac, I caught this movie on HBO late at night. I understand the movie never made it to theaters...and I can understand why. It's not a horrible film, but not worth the price of admission. It's basically a farce, filled with sitcom-like scenarios and low-brow humor. But I was entertained, partially because I just like Denis Leary. The plot doesn't contain much logic. Leary's character is forced to make his amends with 12 of his ex-girlfriends, who he just used for sex, in order to receive millions of dollars from his grandmother's will. In order to receive the inheritance, each woman must literally say the words "I forgive you." First of all, what are the chances that every one of these women are going to be home when he shows up at the door? And the way in which these women say "I forgive you" is solely motivated by the plot and not their characters. Even if they did want to forgive Leary's character, why do they all phrase their forgiveness in those three exact words? As I said, this movie doesn't contain much logic. I did laugh, though. This is simply one of those flicks you check out when it airs late night on cable when there's nothing else on.

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

Leary and Hurley hook up again for this fun little romcom romp which aired on cable under the title "Dawg". IMHO better than their previous collaboration "Double Whammy", this flick tells of a womanizer who will inherit a fortune if he can be forgiven his sexual trespasses by a dozen of his womanized victims. Hurley, attorney for the estate, tags along to bear witness leading to much fun, silly moments, a whiff of romance, a sentimental thread, and a kicker at the end. "Dawg" may not be Oscar material but it is quirky, unpredictable, and carries a message and a moral. Worth a look especially by romantic comedy suckers like moi. (B-)

Would you risk this embarrassment to collect inheritance money? The movie focuses on a wealthy bloke that has been a player with the women over the years. When his grandmother dies, she didn't approve of his player mentality, she made a stipulation in her will that he get 12 women to tell him they forgive him for his past transgressions before he can claim the sizable inheritance. And with Elizabeth Hurley along for the ride as the attorney to confirm the women's forgiveness, the movie sets off. Get ready for a slew of what hijinks will occur and what morals will he learn along the way and will old grandma be savvier than one may think? This is slightly better than expected with a genuine twist. Cinematically, there was zero care for cinematography as it was sitcom quality. There was occasional cause for light snickering. Something to watch while folding laundry.