Isle of Dogs

I saw this film at Frightfest 2010 in London and rather embarrassingly I was sitting in the same row as the director and some of the stars. I say embarrassing as there are quite a lot of laughs in this film, but most are unintentional. Small things like a firedoor sign (clearly filmed in a hotel rather than a country house) to a suitcase 'full' of money that appears to have about £200 at most in it.

Unfortunately it's not just the small things that are laughable in this film. The characters are stereotypical (bumbling police, foul mouthed wisecracking boss, hit-man with a heart), the dialogue is trying to be genuine/gritty whilst also amusing and fails with both, and there are some glaring plot holes. There are several scenes that are way too long and talky whilst the music booms over the top trying to add gravitas to characters going over the same points again and again.

The acting isn't too bad on the whole, the major characters are a gang boss, his wife and her lover who's also a hit-man for said boss. The boss puts in a decent performance that owes a lot to Ben Kinglsey in 'Sexy Beast' and Vinnie Jones from Guy Ritchie films, that said he clearly had fun with it and that comes across. The Wife is a Czech actress who's main functions are to walk around pouting and having some rough and tumble with various protagonists both of which she does fine. The hit-man performance is very strange though. Ed Hogg seems to go from maniacal to breaking down crying in every scene in the most uneven performance I've ever seen. Ed is the only actor I recognised from another film having seen 'Bunny and the Bull' in which I thought he was very good, which just makes his performance even more confusing and ultimate I just think he was miscast also being too slight and having too weak a voice for the role.

In the end the film wants to be a cross between a Guy Ritchie film, Severance and Sexy Beast but fails to be as fun or interesting as any of them. I doubt there will be any major release of this film, but there are laughs to be had (however unintentional) but I certainly wouldn't pay for them!

ANY title with Tammi Sutton in it (this time as director) needs to be scrutinized for fake reviews. The last 'fare' this person was involved in was "Whispers", and it is the most ridiculous and vast example of skewed/fake reviews to have ever happened on IMDb or RedBox. On a good note, since the direction on both films is trash, Ms. Sutton can always acquire a job fluffing ... reviews for others too.

I went into this film expecting something similar to the Fabulous Mr Fox, but was disappointed to find out that this movie isn't animated at all. My kids were very upset as well, since they loved the fox movie and couldn't wait to see this one. I don't know what happened to Wes Anderson. Honestly, he's been on a steady decline since Rushmore.

What??? I watched this film for 20mins, turned it of f because it was so bad. Felt guilty, because maybe I hadn't given it a fair chance, another 20mins was given. My God, am I demented, or was this movie a film school project that they forgot to write a script for. The acting wasn't terrible, but why watch an improv class. For the final stage of the film, I just watched with dismay, waiting for a clown to pop up shouting "Gotcha", now that would have been funny. Sadly this didn't happen, however, some of the effects did make me snigger, especially the hand chopping incident. If this film had been any worse it would probably become a cult classic! Unfortunately this was not the case.

The guy who spat on your grave (not literally, just in the Remake), Mr Andrew Howard, might just be the best thing in here. Well best "living" thing that is. And he (almost) gets away with it. The other two main players/actors unfortunately are not up to the task. This movie could have been so much more (and I cannot stop thinking, that a great title was thrown away on this movie too).

But then again, there are a few people who read a few things into this (which I clearly didn't catch) and enjoyed it. So please make sure to read the positive feedback too, before you decide whether to watch the movie or not. Just let me point out, that I did see quite a few things coming and wasn't as surprised as another reviewer. The script is not as clever as it thinks it is and Barbara N. (though I do love her) is not game/up to the task. And considering the major role she is playing, this is a big letdown (for my crush and for the movie).