REVIEW - Dogtooth

Winner of Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2009 and Best Director at our own Dublin International Film Festival, Dogtooth tells the story of an unnamed family who live outside of normal society. While the father works in a factory office nearby, his wife and three grown children (known merely as Eldest, Youngest and Son) stay at home in a fabricated commune where the rules and even the language of everyday life have been turned upside down.

The film starts with a voice over where the meaning of words is described, a recurring theme which sees a salt cellar called a phone and a zombie transmuted into a small yellow flower. The corruption of language, and thus the ability of the children to cope outside of the home, is where the film starts – and it just gets more bizarre from there.

The Father has enlisted Christina, a worker at his factory, to help his son relieve some of his baser urges and her invasion into their closed loop of an existence is the catalyst for the Eldest daughter (Papoulia) to begin to question the rules which govern their tiny world.

Dogtooth is often an uncomfortable film, as the terrifying control which the Father wields become more and more apparent over time and the frank way in which he deceives, abuses and socially cripples his offspring is shocking. But underneath the explicit sex and violence, the most surprising thing about the film is the humour. The child-like ways of the young adults are perfectly captured and their twisted beliefs a constant source of hilarity – as in the moment when the Son first comes face to face with a cat or the messages from their so-called ‘grandfather’.

The performances are remarkably committed, particularly Papoulia (who is the main point of contact for the audience) and Christos Stergioglou as the unrelentingly creepy Father and the straight-faced presentation somehow manages to sell this bizarre family unit. It’s undoubtedly a film that requires patience to fully appreciate but once you get over the initial discomfort and buy into the world that has been created, Dogtooth is brilliantly wrought, terrifying and hilarious, all the way up to its shocking finale.

4/5

REVIEW - Date Night

Arguably two of the funniest comics working today, Tina Fey and Steve Carell are a comedy match up made in heaven in Shawn Levy's Date Night.

Phil (Carell) and Claire (Fey) Foster are 40-somethings with good jobs, two kids and a slowly crumbling relationship, relieved by weekly date nights to a local eatery. When they find out that two of their best friends are divorcing, they begin to question what is holding them together and embark on a massive date in the city to try to save their marriage. But when they steal another couples reservation and are mistaken for a couple of thieves, their night turns out more interesting than they could possibly have imagined.

Date Night is a very likeable film - the plot is overcooked tosh and action-led attempts to break out of the linear comedy set-up are jarring - but the easy performances of the leads are always there to prop up the sagging direction. It's clear that much of the charm, and most of the laughs, come from the pairing of Fey and Carell - as a series of outtakes over the final credits see them adlibbing rings around the rather staid script.

With a more assured director and a higher age rating, this could have made a fantastic action comedy. As it is, there's barely enough content to fill the 80 minute run time, a bevy of underused cameos (Wahlberg is good but what was the point in having Ray Liotta, James Franco or Mark Ruffalo in there?) and some great comedy moments for the add-libbing leads. Fluffy fun.

3.5/5