Dog
Park (1998)
This
supposedly romantic comedy isn't really funny or romantic.
It gets by on pure charm. There's the charm of Luke
Wilson, the cute cuddly chipmunk-cheeked indie star
of last season. There's Janeanne Garofalo, who is the
raven-haired, fun-but-tough indie star of every season.
There's Bruce McCulloch, the cute, chubby, star of all
those old "Kids in the Halls" on Comedy Central. And
then there's Harland Williams, the quirky indie star
to look for, in a minor but hilarious role. They're
just fun, nice groovy, 90's indie actors, so we don't
mind spending 90 minutes with them.
McCulloch is the one who wrote and directed this film
and how he got it made is beyond me. It doesn't
say or do anything all that new. It's single invention
is to juxtapose the old style where singles used to
meet, the singles bar, with it's supposed 90's incarnation,
the "dog park," that area in the public park where people
walk their dogs. Now, I'm not an animal person at all,
so the cutesy way the owners of the dogs relate to their
animals here is just, well, pretty much annoying to
me. Also, I suppose, if your a "cat person," it isn't
a film with much for you to like. And other than this,
the film's been done before. A seemingly happy married
man has an affair, another man who has never been alone
in his life learns that he needs some down time to evaluate
himself as a person before jumping into a relationship,
a single female learns that she must be willing to take
chances. This is not new territory in any way shape
or form.
Director McCulloch does prove that his humor does not
have to be the absurdist variety which promoted the
Kids in the Hall to stardom. His film is sweet and normal
and does not take any unexpected turns into ludicrous
terrain. He proves that he can assemble a group of talented
young stars and allow them to progress a story at a
normal, enjoyable rate. And, mainly, and perhaps most
importantly in the 90's, he proves that he's awesome
at fulfilling the soundtrack needs of the modern commercial
film. The songs here may be cute, sweet, indie pop tunes,
but they perfectly accentuate the film. McCulloch always
picks the right song at the right time and this helps
make the film fun to watch, like listening to a cool
new music sampler.
Yes, "Dog Park" sure is a nice film to watch. It's like
candy for the brain, cerebral sweets for the soul. And
surely something as harmless as that can't be bad for
you. Right kids.
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