This film is built around a single joke and like most films built around a single joke it gets dog-tired pretty quickly. (The exception being "The Aristocrats.") I am going to reveal the joke, so stop reading if you do not want to have the joke revealed to you, okay!

The title of the film is a play on words that relates to this joke. As our protagonist Amy reveals to us via narration at the beginning of the film, when she was in college, she blew her dog. That's right. That's the joke that begins this film. Luckily we aren't forced to see it, although we are required to look at a few shots of a male dog lying on his back with his legs spread open suggestively if we aren't smart enough to avert our eyes.

The creative and tacky mind behind this one-joke film is Bobcat Goldthwait and I will admit that, as jokesters go, he is a comedian who has always been able to make me laugh. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't laugh here; I did. I probably laughed a good 20 to 30 times. The film has moments of real humor and some dialogue that is quite amusing.

But overall the piece is an uneven mess. In the third act, it gets downright maudlin and contrived. How a comedy film about a girl who blows her dog can become contrived is certainly no mystery. All you have to do is have all the people in the film who are close to her, mother, father, brother and especially fiancé react violently and wholly unrealistically to the "joke" when it is revealed to them.

Bryce Johnson has the sad duty of running the gamut from disgusted to sexually excited by the idea of his girlfriend blowing a dog. It is a thankless role and he is completely unable to pull it off. I don't believe any actor, even Olivier, could pull this role off, so Johnson deserves a bit of a break.

Melinda Page Hamilton has a much better go of playing Amy, the dog blower, but she has a lot more to do here than simply be revolted by something that has been so overexposed by the Internet that it has almost become commonplace. Her castmates aren't so lucky.

I understand that, perhaps, knowing your intended had once blown a dog would be troublesome for some. Before Johnson's character finds out here, everytime he kisses Amy, we think: Dude, that mouth has been on a dog's dick. But would this revelation really bring about the demise of a solid relationship? It seems doubtful to me.

Even more ridiculous is the reaction of mom and dad, played by Bonita Friedericy and that guy who played Brett Butler's ex-husband on "Grace Under Fire." (I've looked on the net and I can't find his name). Only the awesome Jack Plotnick as the brother does an adequate job of reacting to the revelation here as he is bat-shit crazy and a meth-head and paint-huffer. Plotnick hits the nail on the head here and knocks it out of the park, something no one else involved seems to be able to do.

The sad and tearful latter parts of this film are as absurd and contrived as the funny parts of it and this leaves one with the feeling of being on a really bad rollercoaster, sure there have been some ups and downs and even some exhilarating moments. But after the ride is over, you notice that the damn rollercoaster has a many pieces of wood missing and doesn't seem well-constructed at all. When you drive home from the amusement park, you feel cheated, and a little empty inside.

Notes:

At one time the film was going to be called "Stay" and even played at some film festivals with that title.

The film has been picked up by Samuel Goldwyn and Roadside Attractions.

The film played Sundance in 2006.

Viewed in Austin in October of 2006 at The IMAX Theater at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum as part of the Austin Film Festival with writer director Bobcat Goldthwait in attendance. During the Q&A, Goldthwait, who was hilarious in person, told us the film cost $40,00 to make and his crew was made up of mainly high school kids that he found on-line at Craigslist. He told us he wrote the script in three days and it was filmed in 16.

Goldthwait also told us the film had been released the previous week in New York and had done "dismal" business. (About $10,000 on six screens).

Report Card

Script: C-

Acting: C+

Cinematography\Lighting: C

Special Effects\Make Up: B

Music: C

Final Grade: C-