Dawg (2002)

Doug is a Dawg, right down to the license plate on his sports car. He's cool, he's carefree, and he loves women - plenty of women. They love him too, until the day he disappears in a cloud of exhaust. But all that changes the day Anna comes along. Anna is about to change Doug's life with news of an inheritance that can be his on one condition: He must track down the women he has betrayed and get them to say "I forgive you." Doug is game - but will they be? Anna and the women in Doug's life are about to try and teach this dog some new tricks. And they don't start with the phrase "lie down."

Plain Bad Writing with Denis Leary Wasted

Also known as `Dawg," "Bad Boy" stars Denis Leary as Doug, lifelong womanizer whose grandmother left him one million dollars on one condition that Doug visit a series of his ex-lovers and convince them he was really sorry for what he had done to them. Anna (Elizabeth Hurley) beautiful attorney has to accompany him around the West Coast to ensure that Doug does not cheat.

This kind of film is made for fun, and I know we don't have to take its contrived premise seriously. All you see is Doug learning a lesson through a journey after a string of humiliating experiences by the hand of those whom he had humiliated before. `Bad Boy' tries to be funny and sentimental at the same time and fails terribly in both.

OK, we know this guy needs punishment and he certainly deserves it. But to turn his punishment into light-hearted entertainment the film requires better skills than pitting Denis Leary against a loopy lady living with dozens of cats, sex-starved actress and `wild' nightclub dancer Eric/a. All these episodes are very unfunny making off-beat `Broken Flowers' (which I didn't like) look like a hilarious comic masterpiece.

The film's `surprise' ending doesn't mean anything because we have lost interest in the story long before which is plain bad writing. Leary is a good actor and even in this mess you can see his talent which is sadly wasted, and beautiful Hurley is as wooden as ever. January 30, 2007

The Key Word Here is FUN.

I like Denis Leary. I like Elizabeth Hurley. That said, I like this quirky little comedy about a jerk who gets exactly what he deserves when he goes cross country with a beautiful woman to get exactly what he deserves from--well, at least the last few ex-girlfriends he treated like garbage. This is a slightly gross, semi-sentimental, and all out logically funny and sexy romp for every guy who ever went down this road, and a satisfying outcome for every woman who ever wished that wayfaring male would get exactly what he's got coming to him. Great fun for us girls, and a good lesson to certain men out there who may recognize themselves in this little venture. Guaranteed big laughs and some surprisingly touching moments without being a chick flick. July 23, 2006

FEATHER-WEIGHT ROMP

Yet another on the list of corny comedies, summed up aptly by its line, "I was there, she was horny, it's called timing."

But that doesn't make a review, so an attempt must be made.

We start with a script slimmer than Bill Clinton's book of good conduct. A curiously sumptuous lawyer, played by Liz Hurley, informs Mr. Doug (the 'Dawg' of the title I suppose though it's unclear) that he must apologize to all the women he has whammed bammed thank you ma'amed before he can avail of his late grandmother's plush inheritance.

In a heartbeat our lawyer and client have strapped themselves to white leather seats in a ragtop Merc convertible and set sail around the mounts of southern California (which we see in the same persnickety shot about ten times) to catch up with a choice coterie of has-been girlfriends.

Unchanged attire would suggest all this riding happens in one day but what's logic to do in these circumstances. We keep watching to discover how these "ex" women might have turned out. No two of them are alike, the ensemble of eccentricity is interesting. A few expected botches later things take a smooth turn and predictably Lawyer & Client Inc ends up bonding like spit and tobacco.

Just so things don't end up too simple though, a twist is chucked in as an afterthought but sadly it's a little too little too late. I'd catch it on cable when three laughs per hour were not unacceptable. April 15, 2005

Not as good as I had hoped. DOUBLE WHAMMY is much better.

*DAWG* The chemistry just isn't as good in DAWG as it is in DOUBLE WHAMMY(which also stars Denis Leary and Elizabeth Hurley). In DAWG they're way too opposite with conflicting agendas that they never made that love connection like I kept expecting. It just left a bad taste in my mouth at the end of the movie. I must admit there's a pretty good twist that I didn't see coming. But, looking back, it's kind of obvious. I just wasn't looking for it, I kept thinking they would fall in love or something like that. Sometimes a good twist can save a movie, for me, but it didn't warrant enough bite for me to appreciate the entire movie.
Anyway, it's not a horrible movie, it's just not as good as DOUBLE WHAMMY. Perhaps, if I'd seen DAWG first, I may have liked it better. But I doubt it, seeing DOUBLE WHAMMY 2nd would have simply persuaded me back to this original conclusion anyway. I wouldn't recommend it unless you get it at a deep-discounted price. April 13, 2004

A fun movie...

This is a fun movie with a great acting duo between Dennis Leary and the beautiful Elizabeth Hurley... Leary plays this womanizing male chauvinist who has to track down 12 of his former 'kills' and get them to say 'I forgive you' in order to collect on his dead grandmothers inheritance of $1,000,000. Liz Hurley plays his grandmothers lawyer who tags along to witness the 'I forgive you's.

The movie blends a nice mix of comedy with a few touches of sappy moments.

Gals- You'll probably like this movie, but I don't think it's a 'crying' movie

Guys- No, it's not that much of a chick flick. It's got Dennis Leary in it- do you really think he'd do a chick flick??? Besides- if you get bored with the plot Liz Hurley makes for some mighty nice scenery to focus on for awhile... January 10, 2004

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