The Dog Wedding

We attended the Boston Premiere and fully enjoyed the film and its off-beat look at dog owners and relationships. The storyline moved well and the characters were skillfully cast. Hopefully there will be a sequel and we can further enjoy another episode. It does not hurt that we love Bullies!!! The crossover relationship from the world of professional wrestling and that of a young single professional woman was very entertaining and the two lead characters carried it off very well. We have seen Matt Bloom as his professional namesakes in the WWE and were very surprised by how talented he is as an actor out of the ring. His counterpart, Rosalie Thomass, was a natural in playing the love involvement in The Manimal's life, especially with their love of English Bulldogs. They carried off their relationship naturally and had the audience rooting for them. Well done!!!

Sitting in the front row for the New York City premiere of The Dog Wedding movie, nothing appeared out of the norm: These are my people, I mused. These people know that dogs are family, they bring them to posh cinematic happenings, and once they've walked the red pink carpet with their coutured canines, they settle into theater seats. Displaying your affection (and addiction) to canines is the new norm, and thank DOG for that!

Jason Hurwitz gets it. Matthew Bloom knows it. And Rosalie Thomass has recently discovered it. The Dog Wedding movie is making its rounds on a city-by-city tour before its release to the general public on, yep, you guessed it: Valentine's Day 2016. This isn't your bark-out-loud rom-com for dog lovers that the movie's trailer and associated promotional posters want you to believe it is. Sure, there are dogs in it, as the vehicles that unite a love story of a female German pickle entrepreneur and a hulky muscleman who body slams and pile drives his way into her heart. A modern day romance with a few dogs as catalysts for Cupid's arrow.

The movie stars Matthew Bloom as wrestler Matthew "The Manimal" Pierce. The German businesswoman, Ulrika Schmidt, played by German actress Rosalie Thomass, is sent to the states by her domineering father to shut down a family-owned pickle factory.

In my interview with Hurwitz prior to seeing movie, my expectations were geared more for canine giggles and puns, but the flick is far more than that.

Surprising, whimsical, hallucinatory, belly laugh inducing, will they or won't they: Emotions and affectations viewers can expect to encounter during this 90+ minute thrill ride.

"It was quirky and different and I couldn't wait to see what would happen to the main characters," my spouse told me afterwards.

Exactly. So very much that. Exactly.

This is a movie that has something for everyone.....relationships, dogs, wrestling, humor, business drama, jazz, and many unique characters. The movie is rare in the fact that it has ability to feel independent and quirky but appeal to a very mass audience. The movie is set in Arizona and involves a professional wrestler who meets a German business woman through their pet bulldogs. She is in Arizona on business to potentially shutdown a local food manufacturing facility and layoff the local workers. Her father is an overbearing CEO who demands her to only focus on the company. As you can imagine all the elements intertwine in a charming colorful story. I think viewers will enjoy this movie, yet appreciate that it is refreshingly creative and unique.

Saw the Dog Wedding in preview in Boston...what a fun night! It seemed that this movie had something for everyone. A beautiful businesswoman, a lovable wrestler and two lonely Bulldogs. It covered the struggles of relationships and romance, both human and dog, while it incorporated wrestling and business wranglings into the mix. I enjoyed seeing how two unlikely people could be brought together by their pets and the twists and turns that their encounters take, all the while providing insights into the dilemma of a pickle factory. This movie shows how the search for happiness can cross many lines and prevail through their pets. A funny, quirky and unconventional experience.

Highly recommend this film to dog lovers, wrestling fans, and general cinephiles. It's a fun and quirky rom-com about a clash of cultures and two pet-owners who go to extremes to celebrate their love for animals and eventually find romance. Set in the mystical landscape of Arizona, the story takes you on a peyote trip and underscores a need to support the disenfranchised Native American population. There's even a skosh of Japanese culture represented in the musice score and cosplay. Did I mention a pickle factory? Very eccentric film. Especially loved how it reverses gender roles of the two protagonists without stereotyping. The title sequence with dozens of dog photos in fancy tuxedos and wedding gowns was very well done. Can't wait to see the sequel!