''Lie Down With Dogs'' is a 1995 directorial debut

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

feature film written, directed, produced and starring Wally White. The film was screened at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

and was distributed by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

Plot

Tommie, a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

New Yorker, travels to

Provincetown Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Pr ...

for a vacation with the philosophy, "Be gay, let the guilt go."

Critical reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote "Certainly "Dogs" is no "

Longtime Companion ''Longtime Companion'' is a 1989 American romantic drama film directed by Norman René and starring Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott, Patrick Cassidy, and Mary-Louise Parker. The first wide-release theatrical film to deal with the subject of AID ...

," but in his eagerness to please, White has come up with an amateurish, slapdash pic that is, frankly, pretty boring," adding "White delivers an eager, amiable screen persona, but hardly anyone else in the cast registers."

Caryn James Caryn James is an American film critic, journalist, university lecturer, and writer. Biography She grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, and obtained her doctorate in English literature at Brown University. She began working as a freelance jour ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said ""Lie Down With Dogs" resembles a film-school exercise, an apprentice work filled with pseudo-arty visual images and humor that strains to be clever," and in regards to director Wally White's lead performance "As Tommie, Mr. White talks straight into the camera, but he is an unnatural actor." Conversely, Kevin Thomas from the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called ''Lie Down With Dogs'' "A bittsweet awakening," writing "In his wry, jaunty “Lie Down With Dogs,” Wally White immediately dispenses with the twin expectations of gay filmmakers: to be

politically correct "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

and/or

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

." '' SFGate'' in its review also described ''Lie Down With Dogs'' as a "jaunty, low-budget first feature," and that lead actor Wally White "has a bubbly juvenile appeal as the restless Tommie."

References

External links

* * 1995 films American independent films American comedy films 1995 directorial debut films 1995 LGBTQ-related films American LGBTQ-related films Films set in New York (state) Films set in Massachusetts Films set in the 1990s Films shot in New York (state) Films shot in Massachusetts LGBTQ-related comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language comedy films LGBTQ-related independent films {{LGBTQ-film-stub