More Dogs Than Bones (2000)

So much average

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I dated one of the producers years ago and was aware of the title, but had never actually bothered to rent it. It was on as the Sunday late movie recently so I taped it to finally satisfy my curiosity.I had forgotten that so many recognizable actors had signed on for the film and I think the cast acquitted themselves well with what they were given.I think the biggest problem was that it wasn't so much a dark comedy as it was a dark farce. I'm not sure you can do farce with much of an edge, but I'm sure there are other films out there that have successfully done so. On the other hand, without the light touch it would have been a very different, dark and heavy film and most likely would have been suffered for it. I suppose the writer could have attempted a more staged and wordy, less 'madcap' version, but maybe then the ending wouldn't have been as interesting as it was here.Maybe it sounds like I didn't enjoy it, but I did. I just enjoyed it for what it is, a late night popcorn movie. Good job ML, I'm proud of you.

Vic is on a plane from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Aware that someone is waiting at the Los Angeles airport who will find that she has a lot of money and likely arrest her, she plants the money on Raj, a resident of India who is visiting his nephew Andy, a taxi driver.De Salvo and his partner Quinn are supposed to pick up the money. One problem: Andy lives in Apartment 6, and Thomas Thomas is unfortunate enough to live in Apartment 9 of the same building. The number on his door is loose.Andy's dog Socrates, who likes to steal, finds the bag with the money and hides it. When everyone realizes what is going on, naive and moral Raj believes they should do the right thing, but Andy and his friends disagree.Detective Cody, who is investigating Vic's case, has been on the force for many years, but budget cuts may mean he gets laid off. Meanwhile, Iva Doll is putting the pressure on Vic, who in turn demands results from De Salvo and Quinn.Joe Mantegna was outstanding. This is the type of role he does best. Bad, but still likable and somewhat ignorant. And he was quite good when he was supposedly drunk (not really drunk, but I won't say just what happened) . Mercedes Ruehl was quite good, overly confident and smug at times, and very angry at other times. She reminded me of Glenn Close in '101 Dalmatians'. Like Mantegna, she also did a great drunk--but she wasn't drunk either. Chaim Girafi was subdued but delivered quality. Whoopi Goldberg had a brief but effective performance as a dogcatcher who took in strays. And Ricky Dean Logan was quite funny as an incompetent employee at the morgue.Although this film was quite funny, it had a dark side and an amazing distinction I can't reveal.This was a lot of fun if you don't mind it being somewhat demented.

For those of you hesitant to rent this movie based on the box description, several points may change your mind. The dog in this movie doesn't talk, and isn't CGI. Whoopi Goldberg has relatively little screen time, perhaps about fifteen minutes total. The guy from 'Office Space' with the grudge against the copier, Ajay Naidu, plays a major role. This is a dark comedy, more then a crime drama. A brief scene involving dog fighting is one of the lesser reasons why this is =not= a family film. Despite the violence, it actually contains less gore then crime dramas such as 'Bound', and it's implied rather then shown. The characters appear at first to be clichéd roles – a retiring police officer, a foreign taxi driver, a hit man with a conscience, an apparently homosexual neighbor – but they end up not conforming to their Hollywood templates. The movie contains a refreshing mix of amusing situations, ironic humor, and slapstick comedy, and isn't dragged down by it's fifteen minutes of the 'warm fuzzies' type of comedy associated with Whoopi Goldberg's movies. Several things drag this movie down from a 10 for me. It's lacking polish in places, and some of the shots could be framed better. It 'feels' low budget. The ending, in it's twisting, is a bit too choppy and needs a few more threads tying it into the rest of movie. If you're a fan of Todd Solondz's movies, don't be mislead by the box on this movie - Definitely worth renting.

It had such promise. Don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. Would like to say it was clever, fun and original. And for a while--just a little while--it was fun. I laughed at some of the lines. No, really, I did. There were some great takes on myths about America and Americans. And then...it all went to hell in the biggest handbasket I've ever seen. For three quarters of the movie everything is warm and fuzzy. And then, I guess they lost the last part of the script and said "Oh, well. Let's just kill everyone."Wouldn't you have liked to see Peter Coyote get his job back? Or better yet, frame one of his superiors, make it up with Mercedes Ruehl, maybe off the Louise Fletcher character (what a waste of a great actress) and go off to Barbados? Or what if each person had somehow each gotten their own dream? Or if Uncle Raj had gotten the cash to return to his home in India? I was even expecting to see Uncle Raj become involved with Victoria for a bit. Wouldn't that have been a cool pairing? Wouldn't it have been funny to either a) see her mellow out or b) him become avaricious and street smart? Wouldn't it have been a riot if they had stretched each new obstacle out a bit more? It could have been so funny....But Nooooooooooooooooo! They turned it into a stereotypes on parade with Whoopi doing her cool earth mother routine yet AGAIN (since Celie, has she actually played any other character besides herself?) becoming the hero because she's a cool earth mother. Boring!