Customer Reviews

The Dog Problem

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Being a big fan of Giovanni Ribisi, I had to see this little movie. I was pleasantly surprised watching this well written tale of a writer who has become unable to write, function and has run out of money to pay for his therapy. His therapist suggest he buy a pet, so the young writer buys a cute little dog to take care of and hopefully help him get out of his unhealthy daily routine.

The film is full of good performances and insight. The dog is completely mesmerizing as he does little to convey so much. The scenes with the dog just doing nothing with the comical score in the background are priceless! It's a very entertaining movie with a great cast and impressive direction by Scott Caan(James son), who wrote and also plays Ribisi's best friend. This is a cool film that is like a short subject, but has a lot to offer bewteen the lines. I can see this becoming a cult favorite!

This is a little film with a big heart. It is truly an independant film and shows what the genre is capable of. The always reliable Giovanni Ribisis is hilarious here as a down trodden writer with writers block who is miserable and lonely with life plus broke on top of it all. He has been in daily therapy for a year and when he needs to stop due to funds his therapist suggests he get a pet.

Our main character gets a dog and half heartedly tries to take to the new addition in his life. He desperately fears the attachment. Many characters enter the story and all end up getting involved with the story of the dog. Our writer meets a woman with whom he starts to form a friendship which is also new to him.

The dog is perfectly cast and has great film presence. Your heart will melt. The acting here is all superb and the story flows along and will surprise you with a very emotional ending. The self discovery our main character goes through due to the dogs presence in his life is huge and truly believable.

This film is very well made and well directed. It is funny but in a realistic way. Give this film a chance. It will put you on a true emotional journey well worth taking. And if you love dogs it's just an added bonus!

Remember the lovable pooch in "As Good As It Gets"?? The dog almost stoled the movie from Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. Well this quirky little film, shot in Los Angeles, is another one! I rented this movie twice before I decided it had to be in my "Permanent" Collection. Giovanni Ribisi is perfect in this film as a "depressed" writer (In LA? come on!!) and the supporting cast doesn't let you down. A real indy delight.

The subtle yet powerful influence this little creature has over the lives of the humans he comes in contact with makes for an entertaining and thought provoking film. The performances of Ribisi, Collins and Caan are great! The supporting cast is also excellent and includes a sweet bit by Don Cheadle as Ribisi's therapist. Watch this film with someone you care about-smiles, hugs and a few tears of joy will be assured!

Had it not been for that inferior movie, I would not have watched this one. There are as many brilliant scenes and moments as there are cliches and cheesy ones. I ended up liking it much more than I thought I would. I stumbled upon this gem purely by chance. I had just watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine and was quite intrigued by the female lead, Lynn Collins and IMDBed her. I found out that she happened to be in this movie which got some decent reviews on Amazon so I took the plunge. I'm glad I did it. Way better than expected. I'm pretty sure watching it sober would be just as good but don't take any chances! There's some really funny stuff in there. Take the bad parts in stride, you'll still come out ahead and probably glad you did it too.

I wouldn't call the Dog Problem a classic- but it DID have one thing in its favor that made it an above average film- it included a lot of jokes that were funny because of weird timing, odd choice of words, etc.

For example, in one scene the main character going to see his psychiatrist said the king of ALL swear words which caught the psychiatrist off guard. It was right after the guy bought something for the psychiatrist and he refused to accept it. These little moments made the film funnier than it would have been had the story not included this particular kind of humor.

This really wasn't a typical dog movie either. Not like you really felt like loving and wanting to adopt such a lovely dog, because he wasn't a particularly pretty dog (matter of taste perhaps).

The style of humor this movie was going for had its shining moment when a bunch of people suddenly decided they all wanted the dog at once in one scene at the main characters apartment, and this led to lots of funny scenes that will make more sense when you see who these characters actually are.

But there were enough storyline twists, oddly interesting characters, and other things that made the movie pretty good. The dog does something at the end that was both amazing and cute, and at the VERY end of the movie, the dog does something even more amazing.

It's not a family movie because of constant swear words being tossed around, but it's a decent movie.

I have to agree with everything others have said about this movie. I've seen it at least 5 or 6 times and just savor every moment all over again. The music is quirky but fun and just follows right along with every scene. Since watching this film, I have become a big fan of Giovanni Ribisi. He is adorable in this film and his best friend Casper(Scott Caan) is funny, witty and very supportive. It's a perfect for all the actors.

Well written, well acted movie.
Not for you if your looking for action, or sex.
But if you enjoy a good story, with good performances, and dogs are almost always good, then you can't go wrong with this movie.
A man's psychiatrist tells him he needs a dog, I wasn't sure that would be so good for the dog. Little did I know the guy didn't stand a chance.
A lot of fun, but not for those who need a fast paced film.

You must see this movie!

I rented this film on a whim because I love dogs, and also, Giovani Ribisi (...who couldn't?). Then I bought it.

Boy was I glad I did.

The dialogue is extremely well written and funny, the photography is gorgeous, the acting superb, and the story profound, quirky, warm, full of insight, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Anyone who tends to get addicted to a certain movie will, most likely, develop a habit for this one. It's a work of art.

Hip. Kooky. Touching. Somewhat twisted. Ultimately moving.

Writer/director/actor(the best friend) Scott Caan, is an actor/director/writer to look out for in times to come...

I'm sure his future is going to light up the sky.

Written and directed by Scott Caan, 'The Dog Problem' follows a novelist with enough issues that he goes broke seeing a shrink. Solo (Giovanni Ribisi) gets himself a dog (Jimmy the Dog) on the advice of his therapist (Don Cheadle). Unfortunately, Solo's only had one good book, and now he's broke. The guy he owes money to? Wants his new dog as payment. A rich gal Solo's best friend Casper (Scott Caan) knows? Wants his dog. The doorman of his therapist's building? Wants his dog. And Solo? Well, turns out he wants his dog, too. Amongst the antics of Casper the photographer's womanizing and nude-picture-taking ways, the complex Lola (Lynn Collins), who he meets at a dog park and his own numerous issues and inability to move past his tortured mind, Solo has to decide what he really wants...and then act on it.

Scott Caan excels at "slice-of-life"stories that tug at the heart strings, and take the time to examine human relationships. Once again, following something that he not only wrote, but also directed and co-starred in, takes you through the mind of a man trying to figure out what it is that makes people tick...and trying to discover what it is that makes relationships between friends and lovers both work and fail.

Mr. Caan writes what he knows, which means that like Johnny Ryan in 'Mercy,' the character Solo is a novelist. Also like Johnny Ryan - and Dallas from 'Dallas 362' - the character Casper is womanizing, oftentimes a jerk, and someone without a lot of depth. Well, Johnny had way more depth after he met title character Mercy, but that's another movie and story altogether.

It's interesting once you've seen several things written by Mr. Caan, how many similarities there are among the characters he writes and especially the ones he winds up portraying himself. You start seeing common threads and for me, it makes me insanely curious as to what it is that keeps him going on the same sort of topic over and over...until I realize it's because he truly is trying to figure it all out.

To that end, 'The Dog Problem' seems to really deliver on this quest for Caan. Solo finally finds what he's looking for and realizes that it's not really what he needs. His therapist more makes him figure things out himself than actually gives him answers, and his dog getting into a fight with a stripper's friend's dog at the dog park leads him to find someone he can be himself with, and be completely honest with.

With very little help from Casper...and really, donning a pig's head while shooting photos of stripper Candy in her lingerie...really????...not much help from a dog who does little more than just sit and lay around, and no help at all from crazy, wacky people in his life who want to take his dog, Solo eventually decides what he has to do, and it's not what you're going to expect at all. I must admit, Mr. C.'s character was...how shall I put it...charmingly cute...when he's all over Candy at the restaurant. Okay, that sounded ridiculous, but it's the best way I can describe it.

(Tell me you don't actually put a pig's head on when photographing your subjects, Mr. C., please...)

One thing I did not like about the movie, that I think actually affected the whole story from front to back, was Jimmy the Dog's portrayal of Spot. I have no doubt that as the director, Caan was totally okay with the fact that this dog did...absolutely nothing except for walking through the streets of LA near the end...for the majority of the movie. Who knows, maybe Spot was meant to act depressed. However, in spite of the fact that Spot was cute, he wasn't nearly cute enough for me to believe that all these people in Solo's life want the dog so much they're pitting their bodyguards against each other in the street to see who should be able to take him.

The dog from 'Frasier?' Yeah, that I could see. The one from 'As Good As It Gets' or even Benji, I'd believe. But the little guy in this movie just sat around like a bump on a log (when he wasn't relieving himself on Solo's carpet or bathroom floor), and it just did not endear him to me enough to believe people broke into Solo's place and dognapped him (or at least, that's what Solo thinks). Did not work for me, unfortunately.

What I very much liked about the movie, and what I have liked about everything I've seen that Mr. Caan's written, is the psychology of the characters - their complexity, them being so messed up and them trying to figure everything out (unless they don't want to, and just remain as messed up as they were at the outset). I definitely did not get a sucker punch on this one like I did with 'Dallas 362' and 'Mercy,' but I did get an unexpected surprise at the end that left me very unsettled.

And overall, that's why I keep coming back for more, trying to make sure I watch everything I can written by Mr. Caan. Because there's always something so real about what he writes that it's oftentimes uncomfortable to the point of being embarrassing. And that's life. Real life. Not Hollywood glitter and oh-so-perfect-but-ridiculously-caricatured people. Were parts of this movie funny? Absolutely. (Not the pig's head...that was just...disturbing!) Were parts of the movie sad? Definitely. Touching? Mmhmm.

Was the movie good? Other than the dog not being nearly what I would've expected from the context of the movie, yes. I love watching the characters grow and change (even Casper seems more serious about Candy than previous females he's had). Thank you, Mr. Caan, for bringing what you do best to us again with this foray into the human psyche.

I'd say, audience, that it's definitely worth your time.