Lawn Dogs (1998)

"Edward Scissorhands" with added pretence, "Lawn Dogs" finds Mischa Barton playing a young girl who moves into the affluent Kentucky neighbourhood of Camelot Gardens. Director John Duigan paints this gated community, with its big houses and immaculate lawns, as a throng of smug, conceited white folk, all of whom bully, fear, exploit and prey on those too poor to live within Camelot's exclusive walls. Feeling such wrath is Trent Burns, played by Sam Rockwell, a gardener who, because he is a working class stiff, is accused of crimes, paedophilia, and subjected to much bullying."Lawn Dogs" is smooth and well acted whenever Barton and Rockwell are on screen, but many caricatures and buffoonish scenes of violence designed to push us into sympathising with Rockwell rob the film of all nuance. Duigan's aiming for "magic realism", a fairy tale plot with enchanted forests, red riding hoods, castle-like buildings and ghoulish villains, but can't quite pull it off. Still, Rockwell is always worth a watch.The film's attempts at "class warfare" range from affecting to downright insulting. While it is true that the poor are routinely scapegoated, marginalised, blamed for society's ills, ignored by the media (unless being depicted as parasitic "welfare bums") and viewed by the middle class with a mixture of fear and hatred, the film paints with such broad brush-strokes that the complexities of these issues are bulldozed. Instead the film plays like "The Elephant Man", goading us into crying over bullied outsiders.Bizarrely, the film's twin narrative arcs "contradict" one another. Barton goes through your standard "death of innocence" journey (she essentially sheds her childhood), whilst Rockwell is designed to engender audience wish fulfilment, magically being "liberated" from conditions which would ordinarily crush him in real life. Few "magic realism" films so literally collide fantasy/optimism (the adult) with realism/pessimism (in this case, localized in the child).7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

It's a gem because it is quirky, yet real, and well-done. The rough being that most people have never heard of this movie and then one has to hope they are not a square. I watched this movie 2 times, at least 10 years in-between, and was surprised at how good of a film it was both times. It has some disturbing moments, as I remember, but overall is a sweet heart-felt film with cinematic surprises to boot. When I think of IMDb ratings being flawed, this film comes to mind. Perhaps, this is just do to the word still not getting out, or perhaps it is never going to reach approval by the masses, but if you like to see something different with excellent writing, direction, and acting it would do you good to watch this film and give it a 10 too. By the way females seem to like this movie better than males according to the demographic breakdown but maybe the guys thought this was going to be like Reservoir Dogs, a good film, but not this one.

Sam Rockwell is one of those actors who, no matter what role he's playing, is totally natural. He's immediately likable. I've always been a big fan of his, and up until yesterday had never before seen Lawn Dogs, one of the earliest films wherein he has a bigger role. He's very quietly, calmly good in it, and even in the scenes where he's playing and goofing around with Mischa Barton and it seems awkward, he maintains a pure, natural presence.Lawn Dogs says something important about the most generic slice of American life, the geometrically shaped and calculated life in the suburbs. The film doesn't unmask it. Cleverly, it maintains that quiet, perpetually sunny, middle-of-nowhere feeling of a classic subdivision, and then displays a sad and maddening scenario of misunderstanding in a closed-minded, insular neighborhood and the hauntingly realistic characters. There is a bit of animal violence in this movie, but it's played out in a tautly spare way that's just as frustrating as vain, judgmental people and matter of the rest of the film.Lawn Dogs is a refreshing sort of film. The relationship between Rockwell and Barton is heartwarming and broadly, gently natural. It's good to experience a story that altruistically communicates the genuine existence and state of mind that is often questioned and often misunderstood.

A beautifully made modern day fairy tale that lingers with you long after the credits stop rolling. This movie has it all! The cinematography is breathtaking, the soundtrack is haunting and the writing is superb. Watching this movie is like peeling an onion. Every time you pull back a layer, there's another one underneath. Every time I watch this movie, I learn something new, and as strange as it may sound, I feel like I grow a little more as a person. It is a wonderful little gem of a movie with thousands of tiny details hidden within it waiting to be found. The care with which this movie was made is obvious from beginning to end, overall, a stunning piece of work.