Okay straight off the bat I'm a Bobcat fan, I love his work and thoroughly enjoyed the likes of God Bless America & Worlds Greatest Dad. I like his dark comedic writing/direction and touching upon issues that make people debate.Sleeping Dogs is no exception though on a considerably lower budget than his other movies. A black comedy about a woman wrestling with the decision of whether to tell her partner her deepest darkest secret.The movie will make you laugh, cringe & make yourself answer some questions regarding some really rather interesting scenarios.What would you do if you were her? What would you do if you were him? Is lying to those you love EVER okay?Be aware this is very crass in places and aims (And succeeds) to shock but never feels like its doing it to grosse out but merely to express the gravity of the events.I enjoyed Sleeping Dogs despite its flaws and mixed messages, though its one of those movies I fully understand when folks hate it. If you have a strong stomach, like a movie that gets a group talking and the Bobcat style of writing then its definitely one to give a go of. But it's certainly an acquired taste!
... View MoreWhat's your biggest secret? I'll bet you it's not as big as Amy's (Melinda Page Hilton). And as she can tell you, honesty may not be the best policy for some things. Especially when it comes to her secret.Amy (Melinda Page Hilton) is happily engaged to her boyfriend, John (Bryce Johnson), and through their conversation, he decides that they should be completely honest with each other and share their deepest secrets. Pretty soon, they're both going to wish they hadn't.Because I actually want this review to be published on IMDb, I can't disclose what she actually did (although when you look at the poster and the synopsis, it's kind of obvious...and the quote is on the film's page). It's pretty shocking, but that's about as far as the movie goes. For someone whose mind is this twisted, there could have been plenty of places for this movie to go. Yet after an occasionally funny first half, it delves into a romantic melodrama that still doesn't really work.At least the acting is solid. Melinda Page Hilton must be given credit for her courage. The content of this film requires someone who is not against taking some very big risks. It also helps that she is solid in the role. It's not Oscar worthy, but it gets the job done. Bryce Johnson is a little less successful, but he's not bad. The best performance goes to Colby French, Amy's co-worker and confidant. Of all the characters in the film, he's the one I felt for the most.Bobcat Goldthwait has a twisted mind, to be sure, but he doesn't lack the courage to do anything with this situation. This film could have been a great screwball comedy, but Goldthwait actually expects us to care about these characters and what happens to them. To an extent, I did, but not enough for the amount of time that is devoted to their dramas. The secret is shocking, but I got over it FAR sooner than the characters. Worse is his static shot selection. The film looks bland. To anyone who is not a film critic, that may not be noticeable (as a label), but everyone will know that Goldthwait really fails to draw us into the story."Sleeping Does Lie" isn't a terrible film, but it's not a very good one either. I'll just call it a "missed opportunity."
... View MoreThis film is totally unbelievable. The only way a girl would perform this act on a dog is if she had serious mental health issues or had a long history of sexual abuse or was under duress. Yet we are asked to believe that an otherwise 'normal' healthy female just got a bit bored and 'made a little mistake' and oops had a sexual encounter with a dog. What's more it never had any detrimental affect on her ever again except when she tells someone.Not she was raped by a dog or the dog did something she couldn't resist - she actively initiated oral sex and completed this activity with a pet dog of her own choice. She wasn't on drugs or anything she just 'felt like it'.The rest of the film seeks to put this action in a light of 'hey it could happen to anyone she's only being honest'.But really for this to be believed we have to believe that this is a woman who is capable of doing absolutely ANYTHING if she 'just feels like it'. Think about it - could she have considered the rights and wrongs of this action before carrying it out? If she had she would have stopped in her tracks. Human beings have instinctive boundaries for reasons. If we are now to start considering bestiality as a 'cute' little aberration, what is next? Child abuse? Yet the 'heroine' is portrayed as a hard done by, nice girl who had one moment of aberration. If she had been forced to carry out this act by an abuser - the story might have made more sense and I would have been able to accept the storyline. But there is no way that anyone carries out the prolonged activity required and referred to even once - if there is not some deep, disturbance that requires a great deal of psychiatric help. This is NO WAY a one off happening in an otherwise perfect life.I know this is just a film, but it is through normalising behaviour such as this via the media that society becomes desensitised and more and more awful realities become possible.I could imagine an abuser showing this to a child to persuade them that it isn't such a big deal and then moving on with their agenda. It could also be used by an abuser to underline to a child not to tell about the abuse - because look how people will react to you if you do.This is not about truth. The director WANTS people to think it's about truth. This is about degradation and how easily people (the viewing public)can be manipulated into accepting the most appalling concepts if wrapped up in the right way. The watching public are being manipulated, degraded and laughed at.This is a film in which the actors and the viewers are being humiliated and made fools of in a very sophisticated way by a clever but extremely disturbed film writer.This film appears to me to be being used as a vehicle for the creator of the film to get off on the excitement of playing with your mind in an abusive manner. I don't know whether it is conscious on their part - but it is the most classic example of Mind F***k that I have ever encountered.I hope that this doesn't offend anyone too much. But if you watched this film - I don't think there is any room left to be offended by anything any more.
... View MoreI am not so old that I can't remember laughing at Bobcat Goldthwait a couple times. But some where in all his years of drug abuse he lost his sense of humor as well as his brain cells.From the moment this film opens you can have no sympathy nor empathy for the female lead. Neither will you find anything remotely funny after hearing the opening line. Goldthwait obviously hates himself so much that he needs to degrade in order to feel better- even if it is his own imaginary characters he degrades. If you ever saw Shakes the Clown you know how unfunny Bobcat was 15 years ago...this movie is worse. It was not even funny by accident It is sad, pathetic and a total waste of time. May Goldthwaits' hands be rendered paralyzed so he can not write another script. Strike his tongue so he can not dictate another unfunny scene. He is sad and pathetic and needs to make room for a new talent dying to get into Hollywood
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