Kicking the Dog

I've never felt compelled to write a review or even vote for a movie, but I found this movie so funny that I actually signed up for IMDb to write a review.

This may be the funniest movie I have ever seen. The first time I watched it was with about 5-6 of my buddies and we had to rewind it a bunch of times because we were laughing so hard we missed the next joke. I think we watched the dwarf jump onto the bed 5 times.It must have took us an extra half an hour just to watch it.

The humor is dead-on. The acting is way better than I expected.

The writer has an amazing ear for comedy - and the actors may have been even better. It can't be easy to get in-character for a footjob - but to make it seem real and funny is a testament to the cast. Now that I write this review, I think that's what makes the movie great - that there's a footjob, but it seems like they're both cool with it, not way over-the-top. It doesn't go for the cheap low-brow jokes, even though the topics seem to be low-brow.

Most writers would takes these topics and go for the lowest and simplest joke, with no thought and the movie would would sink into bathroom humor. Somehow, this writer takes material that's already low-brow and makes it rise above that and seem real and intelligent.

Very funny dialog-and-antics driven movie - but mostly dialog. Not the typical antics like "I have to lose my virginity this summer", or trying to see a girl naked, or get a date with the hottest girl, etc. Basically it's unlike the movie you think it's going to be. This may be because the box cover has NOTHING to do with the movie (not sure if this is a good or bad marketing ploy or why they didn't just use something from the movie).

It's a sex comedy based around friends just out of college with an older friend and some high schoolers. It has a few of the generic characters from these types of movies - the older guy who still hangs out, the hot high school girl, the geeky kids - but the main characters are somewhat normal - and are just trying to find their way in life while they reminisce about the good old days. And isn't that what we all do when we are settling down - we don't make new fun as much as talk about the fun we used to have?

Drawbacks - too much of the action takes place in 1 house. That's the only big one. Also could have sacrificed some of the stand-alone comedic scenes for a little more story, but that's not too big.

Positives - Very, very funny. Writer has a keen ear for dialog and humor. The actors, generally, are very good. More than half are memorable. Soundtrack is better than most movies, and there are a lot of songs since there are a lot of party scenes. It looks good - by that I mean, the quality is better than most lower budget comedies I've seen.

It's funny. Period.

First off, this is an independent film, basically in the same vein as two of the most famous - Clerks and Slacker. We all know Kevin Smith made Clerks and went on to a successful career. But you may not realize that Slacker was the first effort by Richard Linklater who's second effort was the legendary movie that began as a cult classic and is now a staple of every teen and 20- something - the great Dazed and Confused. Why am I mentioning this? Because I think that Slacker is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It couldn't hold my attention for more than a few minutes and I only laughed two times. And yet Linklater went on to make an iconic movie about high school kids a couple years later. Lammey's Kicking The Dog, although rough around the edges (we'll get into that in a moment), is a hundred times better than Slacker - basically because it's really funny. I read a review that said something like "Linklater's sophomore effort was Dazed and Confused, which is a classic. Lammey's first effort is a superior movie than Linklater's Slacker, so I'm setting my Google alert so I don't miss his next film"

Basically that's how I feel. each went a different route with their low budget indie films. Slacker roamed around town, never staying on a character for more than a few minutes and never being very funny. Kicking The Dog stays in a single home and has a bunch of characters interact with each other in that house. But the key difference - The Dog is really funny. Both films went in these directions because of their budget. But someone saw that Linklater had potential and he went on to make D&C. As far as pure comedy goes, Slacker is not in the same league as KTD. KTD is funny and often hilarious. Show it to a group of 18 year olds and watch their reactions. Yes, the acting is up and down, as is the story. Staying in one house feels awkward at times. But if you just watch and listen to the comedy, it will keep you laughing.

Sorry it's not really a review. I just watched the movie after not seeing it for a few years and tried to see if Lammey made another and I stumbled upon the review comparing it to Slacker, which made me think. If you like teen sex comedies, watch it. You will laugh.

Like most people, the box cover completely threw me off. The artwork is not a good representation of the movie - and in fact the two guys on the cover aren't in the movie as far as I can tell. I was somewhat stunned the first 5 minutes of the movie, since it was nothing that I expected - which was some hot girls prancing around a party and getting half naked. Then I started to laugh - and I kept laughing.

Honestly, I laughed more at this movie than maybe any movie I have ever seen. At times, I was almost ashamed to be laughing - but it was so perfect. Yeah, they say wiener and discuss sex in front of girlfriends - but it took me back to when I was 20 and did the exact same thing. And the conversations are perfect. Yes they're over-the-top at times - but didn't you have 1-2 guys in your crowd that went over-the-top because they knew it was funny? So, yes I laughed a lot - probably more than similar movies. That said, those other movies like Superbad, Amer Pie, Old School - are still better movies because they use more locations (which Kicking The Dog needed) which keep it more interesting, the characters/acting absorbs you more, and there is a plot - which is my main issue with KTD.

KTD needed a cool plot to become a top level movie. It's basically a 5/10 movie with 9/10 humor. But the super low budget gives it a bonus point. It's not like I ever thought, "where's the plot", because there are some, but nothing that sucks you in during those slower moments.

From the ratings, this is a love it or hate it movie. Like when Music Magazines do those "people's choice - best and worst bands of the year" and the same band wins both the best and the worst. That's how I see this movie. If you had similar experiences hanging out with friends, you will probably laugh your butt off and love this movie. If you didn't, then you will probably shut it off after 10 minutes. But there are some genuine moments (the girlfriend is cute and very good actress).

I have to believe that all the reviews of this movie that have more than one star are written by those who were in the film or had friends that are in it.

It was like watching a porn movie without the sex scenes. A home movie of a fraternity party would have been more interesting. I found myself fast-forwarding just to see if I could find a nude scene or something to keep me interested in this crap of a film.

I hate to be harsh but this film is the worst film I have ever seen and would rather watch someone actually Kick a Dog than recommend anyone waste their time with this trash.

Silver Lining: the fast forward button on the remote!