Juste une fois!

Okay straight off the bat I'm a Bobcat fan, I love his work and thoroughly enjoyed the likes of God Bless America & Worlds Greatest Dad. I like his dark comedic writing/direction and touching upon issues that make people debate.

Sleeping Dogs is no exception though on a considerably lower budget than his other movies. A black comedy about a woman wrestling with the decision of whether to tell her partner her deepest darkest secret.

The movie will make you laugh, cringe & make yourself answer some questions regarding some really rather interesting scenarios.

What would you do if you were her? What would you do if you were him? Is lying to those you love EVER okay?

Be aware this is very crass in places and aims (And succeeds) to shock but never feels like its doing it to grosse out but merely to express the gravity of the events.

I enjoyed Sleeping Dogs despite its flaws and mixed messages, though its one of those movies I fully understand when folks hate it.

If you have a strong stomach, like a movie that gets a group talking and the Bobcat style of writing then its definitely one to give a go of. But it's certainly an acquired taste!

Bob Goldthwait? Interesting...

Once you get past the "disgusting thing", this movie makes you think about how honest we are with those we love. How much information is too much? Is withholding something the same as lying? Do we really need to share everything with someone in order to be close with them? Does someone need to know everything about you to truly love you?

I thought it was well written and acted. I don't recall seeing Melinda Page Hamilton before this, but I thought she was great. Her parents also did a good job with their roles.

I'd watch it again.

A cute little indie film with an emphasis on family. Of course, most families have their dark sides, and sometimes those dark sides are worth laughing at. Its good to see something so original coming out of Hollywood, with so many blockbusters to compete with, a little indie yarn is a welcome change. There are, of course, a number of so-called "family groups" that will try and tell you that this film promotes lewd sex acts, drug use, infanticide, and an Elektra complex to boot, but as is often the case, anyone who says this and believes it to be true has probably been out of touch with reality for a little too long. As it goes, the film is easy to watch, darkly funny, and yet remarkably fulfilling. I say its worth the rental fees, even if they did have to remove that Dandy Warhols song.

You fall in love. You know, you get that really special feeling, an amazing connection . . . ? "This could be the one," you say, "I feel I could tell this person anything." Total love, total honesty, total forgiveness. Unconditional.

Not!! Don't see this film with your fiancé, see it on your own . . .

Sleeping Dogs Lie is not standard rom-com, a tidy melodrama, or a gross-out comedy. It second-guesses the audience with its unconventional examination of relationships and the ideas we maybe too easily take for granted. Like the emotional headbanger movie, Closer, you will perhaps want time to think of the answers to give your beloved before they ask questions based on this movie. The best time to analyse relationships is when you're not in one. The second best time, as our intelligent, pretty, 26yr old protagonist discovers, is when you're learning from your past mistakes.

Amy (Melinda Page Hamilton) is fairly sure that John is the guy for her. They reach the, "Tell me something you've never told anyone else" stage. Yes, we're talking sexual things. But not on screen - just verbal and emotional. Trouble is, Amy is worried John won't love her if she tells him of her dark teenage misdemeanour.

If you have done something bad, that didn't hurt anyone else, you didn't intend any harm, and no-one found out, is telling your other half part of that 'total honesty' equation? Sharing feels good (selfish, but OK). Telling them before they find out from someone else is probably good tactics (selfish really, from fear, or at best protecting trust). But love for the other person isn't technically part of it. Not that you believe that. Amy goes for trial and error. John gives her a 'skeleton' and she wimps out. She gives him a made-up confession that he finds a turn on. For now.

When someone else finds out it might be accidental - but it can come back to haunt. Honesty involves more than intellectual decision. What if your mind 'forgives' someone but your sexual urge doesn't? And if you get the moral high ground, will that tempt you to lie so as to keep it? The film's resolution works on a 'minimising hurt to others' idea, which is quite convincing. Am I going to tell you Amy's secret? No - cos if I do, it will give you the wrong idea of the film, and it's in the first reel anyway.

This is a low budget movie ($50,000) that was very well received at the Sundance and San Sebastian film festivals. Acting is excellent, but the characters are not always very rounded and it is too uneven, uncategorisable a film for general viewing. Audience distance is made even greater by use of techniques like contrasting music ("When You're Smiling"' plays as they drive through miserable silence). I was about to get bored with it, but was already wondering if it was taking an avant-garde approach rather than being just an amateurish mainstream film. It comes very close to the bone when characters 'demand' that the object of their 'love' is 'honest' with them. (Do you have the right to insist on information about that part of someone's life that doesn't concern you?) The dilemmas are reflected into other relationships. Amy has to attend a funeral (she has fallen out with her Father - "I need you to love me, Daddy"), and needs a cigarette. "I didn't want you to know I knew," her father says.

Sleeping Dogs Lie may seem slapdash or tedious if you don't buy into the cerebral and emotional challenge. If you do, you may find it, as I did, quite edifying as well - as heartbreakingly poignant.

"Sleeping Dogs Lie" is hyped as black comedy. The quote "Give the dog a bone" is blatantly blasted forth on the DVD box cover, yet despite the outrageous bestiality subject matter, the film simply isn't outrageous enough to be a successful black comedy. It's all about the consequences of being totally honest in your relationships, sibling rivalry, people not living up to your expectations, insecurities, unconditional love, and forgiveness. When any comedy tries for such deep meaning, it risks tipping over into territory where it doesn't belong, and that is the fatal flaw with "Sleeping Dogs Lie". The uneasy mixture of comedy and drama comes across as more a philosophy lesson than entertainment. - MERK