Fido

"Fido" is a movie you have to be in a certain mood to watch! If you are up for it the experience will be enjoyable! If not than the movie will be quite boring! It is a nice comedy with a special take on the zombie genre! "Fido" doesn't take it self serious,so the acting is light and acceptable! As a parody it works quite well! But it does require some knowledge about zombie movies made by George A. Romero or similar productions and "Lassie" movies! Otherwise it will be hard to understand the humor used in this movie! There is little gore and no suspense at all! So in essence there is nothing extra to be experienced! Billy Connolly as Fido is perfect! He doesn't say much and only growls at times! But even then you understand what he is trying to say (What do you mean a parody on "Lassie"?)! "Fido" is pretty entertaining even when the pace is slow at times! At least it is not a waste of time!

When you see the cover of the DVD you're convinced this is some Class B cheesy cheapie, a film made for $1,000 in somebody's backyard.

Wrong!

This is quality material and really good. It's a comedy and a clever one at that. It also is very touching in spots, with a nice spot of kindness. The production values are very good (this looks excellent), the actors are known, the film's direction and sets are great. It's amazing. Who would have thought?

Carrie-Ann Moss, playing against-type, is terrific, as"Helen Robinson," the June Cleaver-like wife; Billy Connolly is great as the grunting good-hearted zombie "Fido;" Tim Blake Nelson ("Mr. Theopolis") is a hoot is the neighbor with the sexy zombie girlfriend "Tammy," and Henry Czerny and Dylan Baker as dads (check) are excellent, too K'Sun Ray as young "Timmy Robinson," shouldn't be overlooked, either. In fact, he probably has more lines in the movie than anyone.

If I explain the story it will sound so stupid that few of you would watch it. You'll just have to take the word of the people here who liked it and found it to be a very, very pleasant surprise. You need a dark sense of humor, though; an appreciation of the absurd.

Set in a middle class neighborhood in the imaginary town of Willard in the 1950s, this dark comedy with a light touch toys with such American obsessions as gun mania and violence, materialism and keeping up with the Joneses, fear of others, slavery, golf, and the disposing of the dead. Yes, it all sounds a bit heavy, but trust me on this, it's nearly as light as a feather.

Zombies are featured prominently among the characters. Crucial questions arise, such as: who will become a zombie (90% of the Willard folks choose this final path, while only 10% prefer a traditional funeral)? Who owns how many Zombies to do their bidding like robots (they've become a mark of social status)? And, what is the range of possible relationships that can be worked out between the living and the sort of reincarnated dead?

Somehow, director Andrew Currie, who also co-wrote the lively screenplay (with Robert Chomiak and Dennis Heaton), keeps this improbable material percolating along for an hour and a half without once faltering for want of a good laugh. A super cast helps: Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, Henry Czerny, Tim Blake Nelson, Mary Black and Sonja Bennett are the principals, aided by young K'Sun Ray as Timmy, the innocent kid with a good heart who acts as fair witness to all the lunacy of the grownups. (Having seen her only in "Memento" and "The Matrix," I had no idea that Ms. Moss had such fine comedienne chops.)

The production design and music are exquisitely 50s, to a tee. Maybe this one isn't for everybody. It surely will be a hard film to beat for my annual Bizarro Award. But intelligent comedies that stay funny from start to finish are among the hardest won achievements in movie-making. For me anyway, "Fido" is a hoot! My grades: 8.5/10 (A-) (Seen on 01/30/07)

Fido is a cute comedy that deserves wider recognition, especially considering the mainstream crap that is supposed to entertain us these days.

As has already been pointed out, this is hardly a real zombie film, but rather a sweet satire that employs the undead to point fingers. While there are necessarily some bloody scenes, there is almost no gore and the way this movie is presented (feel-good 50s style), I can't imagine anyone being actually scared or turned off by Fido & his fellow sufferers.

While the cast is generally good, I felt that Moss and Nelson stood out. The humor is not in-your-face, but rather subdued; there's a lot of attention to detail and I caught myself smiling benignly several throughout the movie. This is certainly no masterpiece of cinema, but it doesn't strive to be - instead, Currie succeeds in delivering a heart-warming black comedy.

I suppose the ultimate curse of attending the Toronto Film Festival is your release date time table get messed up. Quite frankly, I'm just happy Fido got picked up for US distribution. In any case...

Ever seen Shaun of the Dead? Good. How about Lassie? Able to reconcile the two? Well, if you can your name might be Andrew Currie, Canadian helmer of the first ever family themed zombie comedy, or zomedy. (Seriously, that's what the press book in Toronto called it.) Though not as violent, dry, or British as Shaun of the Dead, Fido remains true to its roots: a devotion to old 50s black and white television including both Lassie and the infamous sci-fi pulp that was being pumped out during the period.

Fido's talented headliners (Carrie Anne Moss, Billy Connelly, Dylan Baker, and Tim Blake Nelson) stand as a testament to the brilliance of the script. The film explores all the implications of its premise: a world where zombies have been converted to servants because of the sheer number of them due to a strange accident. What would you use your new undead servant for? A butler? Manual labor? A pet? Unspeakable acts? Fido tackles all these possibilities in a sweet and surprisingly classy way, with much thanks to the work of Connelly (as one of said zombies) and young TV actor K'Sun Ray, who seems at times to be a better young Elijah Wood than the young Elijah Wood was.

If you're expecting another Shaun of the Dead, don't waste your time. There's not nearly enough gore and pokes at the genre to satisfy you and you'll just leave the theater bitter and depressed. But if you're willing to take a look at what happens to Shaun of the Dead when it jumps across the lake, you're in for a treat. Think of Fido as the sensitive, more often beaten up little brother to Shaun of the Dead's rebellious loser, and you're starting to get the drift. If you like (or at least tolerate) zombies, small children, and loads of deadpan satire, Fido's the film for you. If that's not the case....well, you know the drill. Just hit 'em square between the eyes.