Kicking the Dog (Region 1 Edition)   Starring: Carl T. Evans, Elizabeth Schmidt, Vedette Lim, Laura Bach and Scott Laska MTI Home Video RRP: $24.95 039414521290 Certificate: R Available 21 April 2009

With strip poker, keg stands and hijinks, Kicking the Dog reminds us all of that one legendary summer from our youth... This movie captures the raw emotions and hilarious antics of twelve friends as they discover love, laughter, and even some panties. Their playful summer journey is guaranteed to uncover more than they expect...

Is there room on your shelf for another artless, misogynistic tale about a group of intellectually challenged, sex obsessed young men? If the answer is yes then may I present Kicking the Dog (2009 - 1 hr, 33 min, 55 sec) a first time feature from producer, director and writer Randy Scooter Lammey.

The film charts the last summer that a group of friends will spend together before their lives take them in different direction. Honest that’s about how far the narrative actually goes. Most of the film is made up of sexist jokes and the type of conversations that drunken sixteen year olds have - well I certainly did when I was that age.

It’s not really a bad film, but I did get the feeling that much of this has been done before and usually with more wit. The actors were naturalistic, even if their characters were a little one dimensional, which allows you to accept that these people did make up a coherent group even if they were likely, in reality, it be shunned by their peers.

The film stars Carl T. Evans, Elizabeth Schmidt, Vedette Lim, Laura Bach and Scott Laska.

The structure of the film is too languid for a comedy, with a pace which creates a monotone. A better sharper cut of the film, with some of the tawdry and tired sex stories cut out, would have helped to pick up the pace, leading to a much better film.

For a first time budget indie, it’s not all bad, but then again it’s not that great. I can see it playing at a drunken frat party with some success, but as a completed project Lammey needs to be much more brutal in what he cuts out of his next film.

The film is presented in 16:9 aspect ratio with a 5.1 Dolby track, the review copy was a bare bones affair, but the finished product should have a few trailers and an option for Spanish subtitles.

Be warned this film is best watched drunk, I know I wish I had been.

4

Charles Packer