The films of Todd Solondz have little optimism or hope for mankind and reading some of the negative so called "reviews" on this site you can understand why! What a collection of morons!! No the dog wasn't really run over. Yes dogs do on occasions suffer from Diarrhoea. However believe it or not the film wasn't actually about the cute little dachshund, it was about the progressive void that grows inside empty hateful people and about those humans trying to fill that void with a dog.
If you were watching the film properly rather than sitting like a dummy waiting for a formulaic Hollywood story line ( maybe the dog would cure the kids leukemia, maybe the dog would help the script writer write a hit movie, maybe the dog would make the nasty old lady become kinder etc?) you would have noticed that the narrative of the film progressed from a child to a 20 something to a middle aged man to an old lady at the end of her life. You may have noticed the way the dialogue of the mother in the first section around sterilisation came back during the discussions about the couple with downs. You may have chuckled at some of the references to other film makers, to Damien Hirst, you may have wryly smiled at some of the books in the bookcase of Dave Schmerz's boss at the University etc etc. It's amazing how you can find enjoyment and pleasure in a film if you actually actively engaged your brain whilst watching the film rather than sitting there in a semi comatose state waiting to be entertained! If you had followed Solondz films you would have recognised some of the subtle references to his other films and some less subtle ones such as the return of Dawn Wiener. Then you may actually be qualified to appreciate the film rather than being the sort of clown who watched a trailer and thought the film would be a nice little movie about a doggy! If you expected a Todd Solondz film, the master of nihilistic black humour, to be some updated version of Lassie then I wonder what other strange uninformed choices you are making in your life?
I firmly suspect that this film wasn't aimed at people who have on their to see list "300 Rise of an Empire" ( honestly one of the negative reviewers really has that on his "must see" list!!). Don't accuse people who made the effort to appreciate the film elitist or art house snobs, we are just people who like to watch films that require active engagement not passive acceptance. At least the rest of you can be assured that if it wasn't for all of the misguided consumer dummies out there Todd would struggle to find people to base the supporting characters in his films on!
Not his best film but the man still has his edge, still has the pitch black humour and still speaks the truth about the human condition.
If you were watching the film properly rather than sitting like a dummy waiting for a formulaic Hollywood story line ( maybe the dog would cure the kids leukemia, maybe the dog would help the script writer write a hit movie, maybe the dog would make the nasty old lady become kinder etc?) you would have noticed that the narrative of the film progressed from a child to a 20 something to a middle aged man to an old lady at the end of her life. You may have noticed the way the dialogue of the mother in the first section around sterilisation came back during the discussions about the couple with downs. You may have chuckled at some of the references to other film makers, to Damien Hirst, you may have wryly smiled at some of the books in the bookcase of Dave Schmerz's boss at the University etc etc. It's amazing how you can find enjoyment and pleasure in a film if you actually actively engaged your brain whilst watching the film rather than sitting there in a semi comatose state waiting to be entertained! If you had followed Solondz films you would have recognised some of the subtle references to his other films and some less subtle ones such as the return of Dawn Wiener. Then you may actually be qualified to appreciate the film rather than being the sort of clown who watched a trailer and thought the film would be a nice little movie about a doggy! If you expected a Todd Solondz film, the master of nihilistic black humour, to be some updated version of Lassie then I wonder what other strange uninformed choices you are making in your life?
I firmly suspect that this film wasn't aimed at people who have on their to see list "300 Rise of an Empire" ( honestly one of the negative reviewers really has that on his "must see" list!!). Don't accuse people who made the effort to appreciate the film elitist or art house snobs, we are just people who like to watch films that require active engagement not passive acceptance. At least the rest of you can be assured that if it wasn't for all of the misguided consumer dummies out there Todd would struggle to find people to base the supporting characters in his films on!
Not his best film but the man still has his edge, still has the pitch black humour and still speaks the truth about the human condition.