One of the top comedies on our site is Paul Duran’s The Dogwalker. Will Stewart plays a down-and-out panhandler living in his car, who falls into a good turn when she helps an elderly matron manage her dog. But soon, two other members of the household are nipping at his heels: her sex-starved daughter (Stepfanie Kramer of Hunter fame), and her sex-bomb granddaughter (Nicki Aycox, currently on TNT’s Dark Blue)
The LA Weekly’s Paul Cullum took well to the film, as he writes in his review:
As in his debut feature, the immaculately named Flesh Suitcase, a two-handed drama about heroin smugglers who cruise through customs with a stomach full of balloons and a ticking clock behind them, Duran exhibits an easy feel for the downscale drug milieu, exposing its unwitting comedy and incidental charms. Among these are the crosss polination of an interracial cast (including indie vet Tony Todd, star of the Candyman franchise, and John Randolph, of Serpico fame), and the fish-out-of-water joys of exploring the common bonds between homeless vets and retired pensioners. Despite a downbeat ending and several wide swings into drama that jeopardize the tone, this exactly the kind of gently meandering story the indie boom was built for.
Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times has this to add:
In it’s amiable way, the film, which could benefit from tightening, makes sharp points about the chasm between society’s haves and have-nots and how both could benefit if it were bridged. Some moments are silly, others contrived, but on the whole this very L.A. movie, produced by veteran photographer-journalist Vera Anderson, scores most aggreeably.
Take a stroll with The Dogwalker.
