Dead Pet

Dead Pet is a hilarious independent comedy that ranks up there with Clerks on my top ten independant films.

Here's the deal: Jake (writer-director of the film Kevin Cotteleer) is a college kid who comes home to find his parents have spent his college on their poodle Miko. He moves out, and one of his friends accidentally kills Miko while trying to sorta make-out with his girlfriend. Much chaos ensues, featuring weird situations such as a fight in the lawn between two girls, a cutlery sales industry that is like a cult where Jake gets his job (providing for the funniest scenes in the film), his friends begin to doubt him, activists sit outside his yard thinking he killed the dog screaming "bring Jake to justice! justice for Miko!" and all sorts of other weird, very indie-film-esque situations with sharply written dialogue an well-done cinema antics.

Dead Pet is definetly worth checking out if you dig on funny, witty, quirky, weird, and sorta plotless films where characters deteriorate in a comedic way.

The box said "Funnier than 'Something About Mary!'" It must have been one of those fictional newspaper critics because only a fictional character would confuse this stinker with something that's actually entertaining. The acting is bad, the dialog is worse. The only scene that's even moderately funny involves a parody of the cutco knife marketing world, but this scene hardly saves the movie. I love independent films. This isn't even close to what I expect from a good independent film, I want to know who got bribed to get this turkey into the Hollywood video. And I want my five dollars back.

My all time favorite indie!Classic characters. And a plot and lead character that In sure most people capable of empathy can get behind.

Dead Pet is the kind of movie that a huge video store will have one copy of, if that. It was clearly made on a non-existent budget and, if we are to believe the director's (or is that producer's?) introduction, shot in less than two weeks. Depending on which way you swing, those reasons alone are justification enough for dismissing or embracing it. I embrace it.

There is nothing particularly special about the plot. It starts in the middle and ends in the middle, with little backstory and no clear visions of the future. But you've seen the film or read the synopsis, so the plot is in your hands already. The real meat of the film is in it's characters. Each character has his or her own specific traits, and most of the actors bring them to life wonderfully. Jake is short tempered, but non-threatening. Willy is a shameless suck-up with a superiority complex. Eric obviously couldn't cut it as a real professional, so he throws himself completely into a very menial job. The Dukester... well, the Dukester is the Dukester.

It seems reasonable to worry that such pigeonholed players would become tired towards the tail end of the movie, but someone thought ahead. The film is less than eighty minutes long. At first I felt a bit cheated, but on repeated viewings I have come to believe that this is the perfect length. A great deal of wit is crammed into the picture as it stands. Adding more footage would be stretching it a bit.

I really hate to compare this film to Clerks, as they are from two different worlds. What they do have in common, however, is that their appeal is entirely in the dialog. Nothing of importance happens through the course of the film, yet you stay interested because the characters are saying the things you've always wanted to say. It's roughly the same theory with Dead Pet.

I always have to give credit to anyone who actually makes a film, especially a small indy film. There is an intro to the film on the DVD where the writer/lead actor comes on and speaks briefly only to be interrupted by the producer, who goes on to say how he put thousands of dollars on his credit cards to produce the film. Well, that's the way you have to do it sometimes, but this was an abysmal first attempt. The truth is, the writer wrote a screenplay that has no meat. It's a boring premise, and I wonder what he was thinking as he was writing it. I can't believe he chuckled as he wrote down the dialogue or scenes. It reeks of a bad high school play. The WORST part is the acting. Everyone, including the guy who wrote it, act like they are in an appliance commercial. I'm waiting for anyone to scream, "I'll knock 20% off that Trinitron!" Another words, subtlety never enters the picture, with all the actors going way over the top. The only reason I kept watching was because of an actress named Gina Doctor. She has amazing screen appeal, and her acting may go further. By the way, I picked up this DVD in the bargain bin at a video store that was going out of business and thought that the cover looked interesting. It is; however, it's misleading. That scene lasted about 3 seconds and had nothing to do with the rest of the film. The writer of this film should take some more writing classes and perhaps stay out of the way of the lens.