Lawn Dogs
Directed by John Duigan.
It’s been a long time since I’ve disliked a movie as much as this one.
The film is set in a gated American housing estate, where Trent (Sam Rockwell) mows lawns for the wealthy home-owners. He’s generally disliked and viewed with suspicion by the inhabitants, including the pushy parents of 10-year-old Devon (Mischa Barton). Devon has not had much interest in making friends with the other girls in the neighbourhood and is portrayed as something of an outsider. From here the plot is mind-numbingly predictable — the two outsiders form an unlikely friendship.
The characters in this film were some of the most unpleasant I’ve come across. Its unsubtle attempts at emotional manipulation were entirely unsuccessful since I found Trent and Devon to be almost as repulsive as the rest. In every instance, given a choice, the characters would take the option most likely to cause harm to others. The story itself was fairly dull and painfully slow.
Given my negative reaction to the film’s plot it is hard to be objective about other aspects, but even the look of the film was irritating. Obvious attempts to set up arty shots were wasted as the overall effect was clichéd. The performances too were unremarkable.
The film simply emphasised that Australian directors (John Duigan directed The Year my Voice Broke and Flirting) should think twice before agreeing to make an American film. I don’t think John Duigan thought once.
Helen Chandler
