"Edward Scissorhands" with added pretence, "Lawn Dogs" finds Mischa Barton playing a young girl who moves into the affluent Kentucky neighbourhood of Camelot Gardens. Director John Duigan paints this gated community, with its big houses and immaculate lawns, as a throng of smug, conceited white folk, all of whom bully, fear, exploit and prey on those too poor to live within Camelot's exclusive walls. Feeling such wrath is Trent Burns, played by Sam Rockwell, a gardener who, because he is a working class stiff, is accused of crimes, paedophilia, and subjected to much bullying."Lawn Dogs" is smooth and well acted whenever Barton and Rockwell are on screen, but many caricatures and buffoonish scenes of violence designed to push us into sympathising with Rockwell rob the film of all nuance. Duigan's aiming for "magic realism", a fairy tale plot with enchanted forests, red riding hoods, castle-like buildings and ghoulish villains, but can't quite pull it off. Still, Rockwell is always worth a watch.The film's attempts at "class warfare" range from affecting to downright insulting. While it is true that the poor are routinely scapegoated, marginalised, blamed for society's ills, ignored by the media (unless being depicted as parasitic "welfare bums") and viewed by the middle class with a mixture of fear and hatred, the film paints with such broad brush-strokes that the complexities of these issues are bulldozed. Instead the film plays like "The Elephant Man", goading us into crying over bullied outsiders.Bizarrely, the film's twin narrative arcs "contradict" one another. Barton goes through your standard "death of innocence" journey (she essentially sheds her childhood), whilst Rockwell is designed to engender audience wish fulfilment, magically being "liberated" from conditions which would ordinarily crush him in real life. Few "magic realism" films so literally collide fantasy/optimism (the adult) with realism/pessimism (in this case, localized in the child).7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

So, I just got done watching this unending movie, and was just wondering what was the point? Many pointless scenes just thrown together and make absolutely no sense. Sam Rockwell does a good job, but his unneeded accent got on my nerves. Little Mischa Barton is just as bad as a kid, she needed a good acting coach even then. And don't even get my started on the story...it's literally all over the place! If you like pointless movies about weird people, then this is for you. It has potential, but ruins it with the story and incredibly weird scenes. I mean, what's the deal with Angie Harmon in this? So we could see her naked? PLEASE! So, if all you "fans" could explain it to me, I'm here.

An absolutely adorable, uplifting, beautiful story centered around two of the best performances I've ever seen. It's a witty, subtly hilarious tale of a young man and a little girl from different worlds who form the most beautiful friendship I've ever seen. Of course due to their backgrounds and their ages they have to keep this budding friendship a secret and when it's discovered everyone gets angry. There are a few little subplots of adultery and homosexuality that are surely interesting, but nothing compares to how much this friendship compelled me. I could have watched those two interact for days and not gotten bored for a single second. They were magical. And the ending had me in tears. The "Home is in my hands" scene just had me crying like a little girl. Sam Rockwell and Mischa Barton were flawless in their roles. Easily two of the best performances I've ever seen.

John Duigan is a great cinematographic author who has made many admirably charming films such as Wide Saragasso Sea,The year my voice broke etc.Most of his films are about some important issues related to human behavior in our fast changing society and its implications on mankind.Lawn Dogs is a nice tale of inhuman indifference based on class,status which affect the lives of two lonely people:a young drifter and a young girl.These two roles are nicely played by Sam Rockwell and Mischa Barton.Apart from the two main protagonists, remaining characters of this film are absolutely unusual as they are much too protective of their children.It is for this reason that this theme of this film is absolutely novel and not so much is heard about another film handling a theme of child molestation.As the film takes places in a small town full chance is given to viewers to make an assessment of its bored citizens who have some dark secrets hiding with them.There has been no film before Lawn Dogs which has so deftly handled a difficult subject of child molestation.