First off, this is an independent film, basically in the same vein as two of the most famous - Clerks and Slacker. We all know Kevin Smith made Clerks and went on to a successful career. But you may not realize that Slacker was the first effort by Richard Linklater who's second effort was the legendary movie that began as a cult classic and is now a staple of every teen and 20- something - the great Dazed and Confused. Why am I mentioning this? Because I think that Slacker is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It couldn't hold my attention for more than a few minutes and I only laughed two times. And yet Linklater went on to make an iconic movie about high school kids a couple years later. Lammey's Kicking The Dog, although rough around the edges (we'll get into that in a moment), is a hundred times better than Slacker - basically because it's really funny. I read a review that said something like "Linklater's sophomore effort was Dazed and Confused, which is a classic. Lammey's first effort is a superior movie than Linklater's Slacker, so I'm setting my Google alert so I don't miss his next film"
Basically that's how I feel. each went a different route with their low budget indie films. Slacker roamed around town, never staying on a character for more than a few minutes and never being very funny. Kicking The Dog stays in a single home and has a bunch of characters interact with each other in that house. But the key difference - The Dog is really funny. Both films went in these directions because of their budget. But someone saw that Linklater had potential and he went on to make D&C. As far as pure comedy goes, Slacker is not in the same league as KTD. KTD is funny and often hilarious. Show it to a group of 18 year olds and watch their reactions. Yes, the acting is up and down, as is the story. Staying in one house feels awkward at times. But if you just watch and listen to the comedy, it will keep you laughing.
Sorry it's not really a review. I just watched the movie after not seeing it for a few years and tried to see if Lammey made another and I stumbled upon the review comparing it to Slacker, which made me think. If you like teen sex comedies, watch it. You will laugh.
