Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006)
63 %
Reviews Counted: 49 Fresh: 31 Rotten:18 Average Rating: 6.1/10
Consensus:
Though Sleeping Dogs Lie treats its subject and characters humanely, it's unable to overcome the low-budget production and Bobcat Goldthwait's pedestrian directing.
Runtime: 89 mins
Theatrical Release: Oct 20, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Bobcat Goldthwait, the frantic, shrieking comedian who gained fame in several POLICE ACADEMY films, follows up his debut feature as a writer-director--1992's SHAKES THE CLOWN--with SLEEPING DOGS LIE, a surprisingly tender romantic black comedy. Melinda Page Hamilton gives a terrific... [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Melinda Page Hamilton, Bryce Johnson, Geoffrey Pierson, Colby French, Jack Plotnick
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
...ultimately an emotionally affecting and thoroughly accomplished piece of work...
Comment
02/28/08
Bobcat Goldthwait has produced a flm that understands something about the gulf between what men claim they want from women, and the way they behave when we give it to them.
02/01/08
Bobcat Goldthwait doesn't simply act in bad comedies, now he writes and directs them, too.
06/20/07
I liked the film but thought the bestiality theme held it back. A lot of people won't want to see the movie.
04/04/07
An evenly paced, gently acted and subdued black comedy with a subversive moral at its heart.
03/16/07
Hamilton is wonderful as the bruised victim of an oedipal insanity for truth.
03/16/07
This low-budget comedy-drama may not have the glossiest of coats, but nor is it the dog you might be expecting.
03/16/07
Despite its vomit-inducing revelation, this is a surprisingly sweet romcom with a strong comic performance by Hamilton and some thought-provoking things to say about relationships.
03/16/07
A bestiality rom-com with unexpected charm. Not quite the dog’s bollocks, but certainly no dog’s dinner either.
03/16/07
Despite being thin on laughs and light on conventional romance, Sleeping Dogs manages to be both warm and witty.
03/16/07
You can rely on Goldthwaite to demolish sentimental notions with the power of a force ten gale, but clumsy filmmaking seriously hampers his idea's own effectiveness, resulting in a rather plodding black comedy.
03/13/07
There's an ingratiatingly quirky spirit which keeps bubbling up in Sleeping Dogs Lie and merrily propels it along
03/01/07
I can't think of another film that so directly and actively tackles the question of the actual value of honesty.
01/10/07
This shabbily shot comedy about the limits of being truthful is essentially a one-joke premise that spirals into an uncomfortable series of situations.
11/15/06
Plays into an almost primal fear that there's something so awful in your past that if you spill the beans the other person will split -- no matter how much he or she professes that nothing you could say would ever have that effect.
11/10/06
Top Critic
It's not like Amy was a serial canine abuser, for crying out loud. Had she been, the movie would be much more disgusting but also a lot more interesting and potentially more funny.
11/03/06
Top Critic
A large part of the movie's appeal is Page's ability to make both the entire story believable and her character entirely sympathetic, while Goldthwait muses on the price of absolute honesty with your mate.
11/03/06
Improbably, the movie manages to regroup after its outrageous opening and turn into an unpredictable, almost sweet, romantic comedy about the limits of candour.
11/03/06
Top Critic
A warm, mature, thought-provoking film that is, at times, surreal, often hilarious and ultimately very touching. Nice one, Bobcat.
10/30/06
Related Forums
Goldwaith's Sleeping Dogs Lie (previously STAY)
by: jimtak 10/17/06
by: jimtak 10/17/06
Trailers & Clips
News
RTIndie: David Lynch, Terry Gilliam Living on the Edge of Hollywood
posted by Tim Ryan October 23, 2006
It's a tough time to be a veteran in the indie game. Why are celebrated auteurs David Lynch and Terry Gilliam having a hard...
posted by Tim Ryan October 23, 2006
It's a tough time to be a veteran in the indie game. Why are celebrated auteurs David Lynch and Terry Gilliam having a hard...
Critical Consensus: "Flags" Flies High; "The Prestige" Is Magic; "Flicka" Is A Pretty Good Ride; "Marie Antoinette" Spared Critical Guillotine
posted by Tim Ryan October 19, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got a complex tale of heroism (Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers,"...
posted by Tim Ryan October 19, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got a complex tale of heroism (Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers,"...
IGN RSS Feeds