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| Directed by Bruce McCulloch; Starring Luke Wilson, Natasha Henstridge, Janna Garofalo, Bruce McCulloch, Kathleen Robertson, Kristin Lehman, Amie Carey, Gordon Currie, Harland Williams, Mark McKinney, and Jerry Schaeffer |
It was just two weeks ago that I had the chance to attest my adoration for the actor Luke Wilson with his appearance in Blue Streak. Though a supporting role, he went beyond the lead and stole all of his scenes. That left me thinking of how great he would be in a lead role. The closest to that was last year in the film Home Fries, in which he was the second lead under Drew Barrymore. The film was good and showed a nice side of the actor, but its lack of an audience and less than enthralling ad campaign left many unaware of Wilson. It is sad in my mind that his inferior brother Owen has been able to pick up an audience by appearing in films like The Haunting and Armageddon (though to his credit, Owen did pen Rushmore with director Wes Anderson). The idea that Dog Park might be the chance for Luke Wilson to shine in a lead role brought me in the theatre, too bad that was just barely enough to keep me in.
Dog Park is about two people that have had long lasting relationships come to a close and now they are brought together by the fact that they both love their dogs. Set in and around a New York dog park, the film’s two leads are lucky to meet each other for the first time in a bar (quite hard to swallow considering that both are taking their dogs to the same obedience school regularly). Andy (Wilson) is a writer for a magazine whose girlfriend has taken everything including his prized pooch; Lorna (Henstridge) is the host of a small children’s program about reading, whose boyfriend has left her for none other than Wilson’s ex. Both are a little uncertain about their relationship, but they grow to love each other while dealing with their dogs. At the same time is the subplot of Wilson’s best friend (Garofalo) finding out that her husband (director McColloch) is having an affair with Henstridge’s best friend.
The film is an all-out bore, with little chemistry between the leads. I was sitting contently waiting the film to end so that I could go see American Beauty again. Wilson and Henstridge both try, but neither succeed in making their characters interesting or even interested in each other to the point that anything is believable. Bruce McColloch has been enjoyable before on the Canadian sketch comedy series The Kids in the Hall, but nothing in this film has the energy or hilarity of the show. In the realm of light romantic comedies, Dog Park is one of the worst.
