Review: Down Dog

16th January 2015

By Ben Hooper.

Jason Durr (remember him from Heartbeat?) stars as Frank Clayton in this gentle coming-of-middle-age comedy-drama from the writer of Men Behaving Badly. If all that sounds rather made-for-TV, the film won’t do much to change your mind, but there is plenty to like here.

Frank Clayton is struggling to juggle the ex-wife, girlfriend, disengaged son, and wide-boy business partner (a mugging Nick Moran) that make up his life. To make matters worse, their sex-toy company is a bit hard up (buddum ting!) and won’t likely be saved by ideas such as ‘The iMoan.’ Still, it’s nothing that a whole load of drink and sex won’t solve, right?

In a bid to turn Frank into an attentive father for their teenage son, his ex-wife Rachel (Orla O’Rourke) convinces an unscrupulous and love-struck doctor to tell him that he’s seriously ill. It works: cue father-son bonding montage that includes camping, pub chats about how to get into a woman’s heart (and pants), and sharing a cheeky joint in a treehouse.

While it’s neither heart-breaking, hilarious, nor especially well-made, Down Dog does have its charm, thanks mostly to a pretty good cast. The stand-out is O’Rourke, who, in a rather insightful directorial device, plays all three of Frank’s love interests: ex-wife Rachel; paid-for and contractually-obligated girlfriend Harriet; and the object of his holiday romance, coffee-shopkeeper Flora. As Rachel, O’Rourke brings a well-rounded and realistic character (immoral scheming aside), who is a single mother, professional woman and independent sexual being, to life.

Down Dog might not be in the same league as the likes of About A Boy, but it’s not a bad attempt at mining similar territory. And if you’ve ever wanted to see Nick Moran actually get beaten up with a dildo (geddit?) then this is probably worth a watch.

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