While it's a bit dated nowadays, Lie Down with Dogs is still a good movie about grabbing the bull by the horns and changing your life by deciding to just get up a go.Looking for a fun, feel good movie about how to escape your normal life and have a fabulous summer? “Lie Down with Dogs” is Wally White’s story of his escape from New York City to Provincetown, that gay vacationland on Cape Cod.
I’m not going to try to give away the plot or even give much details of the story, as this is the kind of movie that is more fun to watch than to try to explain and I think that if I did try to explain the plot, the movie would sound a lot less exciting than I think it is.
I first saw this movie when I was in college and still living in NY. I had gone to the video store and saw this and said “oh my god I’ve got to see that, I can’t believe that they have that kind of movie here.” I brought it home and I laughed my way through the entire movie.
The movie follows Wally in NYC as he is stuck in a dead end job and with what he sees as a dead end life where he does the same thing over and over without any variety. After a hilarious breakdown at his job, he runs into a friend who is on his way to Provincetown and that gets Wally to thinking about how much fun it would be to go for the summer.
He decides to drop everything in NYC and go to P-town for the summer. He catches a ride with some other friends and from there, the movie is the story of Wally’s summer, from finding a place to live and finding a job to his attempts at finding love.
What he finds in the end I think is more enlightening than anything that he experienced throughout the summer and it’s something that a lot of us who live our lives in a repetitive fashion should really take to heart. I’ll save the revelation for you in the movie, but honestly, take it to heart.
As a person who lives in Massachusetts and now goes out to P-town quite frequently, the movie is also very cool because it was filmed entirely on location and just about everywhere the movie is filming, you can pick out places you know and people you may have met. The movie also pretty accurately captures the essence of P-town and that’s a pretty big accomplishment.
I would say the film’s weakest point is that it drags in some places. There are only a few areas (maybe 2) like this and you’ll pick up on them, it’s a good time to run to the bathroom or get some more popcorn.
The film’s other strong point is how it takes different assumptions and stereotypes in gay life and culture and examines and debunks those assumptions and stereotypes. Just because you are from a “square state” doesn’t mean that you’re a square and so on. In this way, the film does an honestly good job at examining these issues.
I haven’t seen this film on DVD, so I believe that it is only available on VHS and from what I have seen, it’s pretty cheap now. It’s definitely a welcome addition to anyone’s video collection. I’ve had it for several years now and I can say that I never grow tired of watching it, especially after we’ve spent a weekend out at P-town.
So take the time to get this movie and watch it! Then let go and have your own adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment