Dog Park (1999)

The Worst Film Ever

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Dog Park (1998) * 1/2 (out of 4) Andy (Luke Wilson) is a down on his luck, self described loser who has just lost his girlfriend to another man but to make matters worse she has taken the dog with her. Andy doesn't understand why she would take the dog since she hated it so much but thankfully he's got a friend (Janeane Garofalo) to explain life and its problems to him. The friend tries to explain to Andy that he hasn't been single since the eighth grade so he has no idea what life is like to be single and that he will continue to have bad relationships until he realizes how to get along without others.To get the sorrow out of his heart Andy decides to go to a singles bar for some onion soup when he bumps into Lorna (Natasha Henstridge), someone also suffering from a bad relationship. The two do some small talk and decide to have a one-night stand but after puking in his lap, the two go off in separate directions dating other people. In this time Andy starts dating a wild woman who wants nothing more than rough sex but he keeps thinking back to Lorna knowing that she's the right woman for him. He keeps going to the dog park where he hopes to meet her again while at the same time hoping to get his beloved dog back.Dog Park is another film in a long line of movies that tries to get a message across about love but anyone who has had at least one date in their life will come away rolling their eyes in disbelief because the film is so incredibly bad that you can't help but be thankful this turkey only spent a few weeks in theaters after sitting on a shelf for over a year. I'm a die-hard Woody Allen fan but I'm beginning to think he put a curse on the world because he's the reason so many bad films have been made because other's try to recreate what he does but usually falls flat on their faces.The films message is the typical one that if you keep trying you'll eventually find love yet the characters are so poor one doesn't have to wonder too hard why they can't keep a relationship going. As with other films of its type, Dog Park features a loser guy, a loser woman and their wonderful friends who give wonderful advice yet the losers never seem to listen to them. The first eighty-minutes of the movie features tears, heartache and dating but in the end we've seen this countless times before and we know how things will work out. As I've said before I'm often curious if these type of films use the exact same story outline and only slightly change character's professions and the color of their hair.Luke Wilson gives a rather bland and completely forgettable performance, which isn't a good thing for your lead actor. There isn't a single moment in the film where he gives off any energy, which just makes the film all the more unbearable to get through. He delivers each of his lines so slowly that you can't help but think he's reading them off a cue card. Natasha Henstridge gives another bland performance but for some reason she feels her smile will carry us the way. Put the two stars together and we get no chemistry whatsoever, which again, doesn't help matters. Janeane Garofalo, usually very reliable, doesn't add anything either because she isn't given anything to do. Harland Williams is the only bright spot in the cast but he's only here for a few minutes.This was written and directed by Bruce McCulloch from Kids in the Hall fame and he shows nothing original in either department. Various scenes go on and on without any direction and I personally couldn't see a point in any of them. There an incredibly stupid scene with a dog psychologist, which seems to be taking itself way too seriously even though what's being talked about is so silly that one must wonder how any producer could have taken it to heart. The screenplay offers nothing new and nothing original so if you want to see a loser try to make a rebound then check out a Woody Allen film or just buy a dog to talk to. Either one would be more entertaining than this film, which certainly needs to be scooped up and thrown away.

I'm not normally a fan of romantic comedies, actually I despise most of them (especially if they involve Tom Hanks and/or Meg Ryan)...But I really liked this movie ... the fact that I'm a big dog fan helps, but the storyline was pretty good too ... I actually cared about some of the characters and the acting wasn't bad at all ...And it was funny at times ... a trait not shared by most romantic comedies... One thing that did annoy me a little was that it's completely unbelievable that a plain guy like Andy would be getting so much action (Cheryl, Lorna and the nutritionist all wanted him at some point of the film ... yeah, that really happens), but it is a movie and thus not supposed to be very realistic. So I'll let it slide.Call me a sap, but "Dog Park" is a winner in my book ...

Please do a favor to yourself and don't watch this movie Dog Park.It's a shame see good actors and actrisses working together in a so inapropriatte theme.If you are very patient maybe you'll watch the movie until the end but if you're not give up!!!I gave up. The story is completely stupid,there is this guy who never dates but oneday he meets Lorna(Henstridge) a beautifull and single woman.Then they go out at night and everything gets wrong.The bad thing of the movie is that dogs are the maincentral theme.The director add to the movie the most lunatic scenes with the animals,like:There is a dog named Moogley that goes to a shrink(!!!!)and he is in depression because he can't watch people having sex(!!!).Half of the movie is inside the shrink! Run away from this "motion picture" a classic of the trash!

As a romantic comedy, it's not very romantic nor is it very funny.The whole thing is a pot of bad cliches of romantic comedy movies: the "always with a quip" best friend, "meet-cutes," running into an ex, bad breakups, the blonde with a strange sexual thing, etc ... ecetera, ecetera, ecetera - we've seen it all before - the only difference is a dog park instead of a singles bar and it's used sparingly and without any imagination.The cast is good but they don't have much to work with. It's a dog already and not the kind you want to take home.