STREET DATE: SEPTEMBER 18th
Official Synopsis:
Writer-director David Hewlett unleashes his hilarious dark side with this imaginative comedy about a family that loves itself to pieces. When Marilyn (Kate Hewlett), a successful make-up artist for a hit TV series, brings home the show’s star, Ryan (Paul McGillion), to announce their engagement, it catapults her already obsessive brother Patrick (Hewlett) over the edge. And when Patrick learns that Ryan is out to murder his sister, he plots to give the actor the axe – or something sharper. But Patrick bungles the perfect crime, things spin out of control, and soon, the family’s sanity has gone to the dogs.
Our Take:
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing David Hewlett who, in addition to playing Dr. Rodney McCKay on Stargate Atlantis, also wrote, directed, and starred in A Dog's Breakfast. Because he is such an incredibly nice guy, I got a little nervous about reviewing his independent film venture. What if it was terrible? How could I write a negative review after meeting such a nice, enjoyable person?
Luckily, I was worried for nothing. In fact, not only is A Dog's Breakfast not terrible, it's one of the funniest films I've seen in quite some time. Sort of a modern version of a screwball comedy, the film is quirky, colorful, and most importantly, extremely funny. Hewlett always brings a bit of comic relief to the goings-on in Stargate Atlantis, but here he proves how adept he is at physical comedy as well. Credit also goes to the sharp script and the direction and editing, all of which transform this low-budget indie labor of love into a surprisingly good time while not relying on any big name stars or special effects.
The story revolves around an obsessive-compulsive man who tries to kill his sister's fiancé, and the mayhem that ensues when he botches things up. To say more would give away all the most fun parts of the film, but suffice it to say that not only will the film have you laughing, but it will actually keep you guessing up to the end as well.
Hewlett's real-life sister Kate plays his sister in the film, and the two have a great onscreen brother-sister chemistry that is clearly borne of real life experiences. Paul McGillion, one of my favorites as Dr. Carson Beckett on Stargate Atlantis, shines the brightest, however, as Kate's fiancé. He plays an actor on a cheesy space opera TV show who's a nice guy in real life and, while not the biggest part in the film, he steals just about every scene he's in. We're treated to clips from the sci-fi show as well; the obvious jabs at Stargate are a lot of fun. Stargate fans, also look for smaller roles from Christopher Judge and Rachel Luttrell.
Somewhat surprisingly for a low-budget feature, the DVD for A Dog's Breakfast comes with a nice collection of extra features.
* Commentary - By Writer/director/actor David Hewlett, along with a couple of producers and, believe it or not, Hewlett's mother. It's a very enjoyable and funny commentary.
* Cooking Up A Dog's Breakfast (6 minutes) - A short making-of featurette.
* The Cast (15 minutes) - This should be of interest to Stargate fans, as it focuses on the actors in the film, many of whom are Stargate cast members.
* The Film and the Fans (5 minutes) - A look at the style of the film, viewer's reactions to it, and Stargate fans' interest in it.
* Deleted Scenes (6 minutes).
A Dog's Breakfast is one of those films that's kind of hard to describe and even harder to describe what makes it so good, but it really is an amazingly fun film. While I enjoy watching David Hewlett every week on Atlantis, I am now also eagerly awaiting his next film project.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Overall Picture:
Movie: A
DVD: B
- Mike Spring
Editor
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