Bark!

Last updated
Bark!
Directed by Katarzyna Adamik
Written by Heather Morgan
Starring Lee Tergesen
Heather Morgan
Lisa Kudrow
Vincent D'Onofrio
Hank Azaria
Distributed byTVA International [1]
Release date
  • January 11, 2002 (2002-01-11)(Sundance)
[2]
Running time
100 minutes [2]
LanguageEnglish

Bark! is a 2002 film written by Heather Morgan, directed by Katarzyna Adamik (the daughter of director Agnieszka Holland) and starring Morgan, Lee Tergesen, and Lisa Kudrow. The film debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize.[ citation needed ]

Contents

The "extremely low-budget" film, [3] had its origins in a 90-second comedy sketch. [2]

Plot

The film depicts Lucy, a professional dogwalker (played by Morgan), who gradually assumes the identity of a dog. Tergesen plays Peter, her embarrassed husband, and Kudrow plays their veterinarian.

Cast

Release

The film was screened at several film festivals, including the Moscow International Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, the Warsaw International Film Festival, and the Cleveland International Film Festival, but never received a theatrical release.[ citation needed ]

The film was eventually released on DVD in 2003 by TVA International. [1]

Reception

Variety , reviewing the film after its Sundance screening, said it "seems to be a throwback to the craziness-as-higher-expression-of-individuality school that was in vogue between The King of Hearts and Harold and Maude , noting "Lucy's withdrawal doesn't seem to spring from anything unless urban life's everyday rudeness and an overbearingly suburban-banal family background count and scene by scene, Bark! builds no discernible rhythm, viewpoint or mood apart from a faint, rudderless, shaggy-joke tenor. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Chasing Amy</i> 1997 film by Kevin Smith

Chasing Amy is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series, the film is about a male comic artist (Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Adams), to the displeasure of his best friend (Lee).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Kudrow</span> American actress (born 1963)

Lisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress. She rose to international fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the American television sitcom Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004. The series earned her Primetime Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, Satellite, American Comedy and TV Guide awards. Phoebe has since been named one of the greatest television characters of all time and is considered to be Kudrow's breakout role, spawning her successful film career.

<i>Romy and Micheles High School Reunion</i> 1997 American film by David Mirkin

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion is a 1997 American comedy film directed by David Mirkin and starring Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, and Janeane Garofalo. The plot revolves around two 28-year-old women who appear to have not achieved much success in life, and decide to invent fake careers to impress former classmates at their ten-year high school reunion. The characters are taken from the stage play Ladies Room, which also featured Kudrow.

<i>Secretary</i> (2002 film) 2002 film by Steven Shainberg

Secretary is a 2002 American erotic romantic comedy-drama film directed by Steven Shainberg from a screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson, based on the 1988 short story of the same name by Mary Gaitskill. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader, the film explores the intense relationship between a dominant lawyer and his submissive secretary, who indulge in various types of BDSM activities such as erotic spanking and petplay.

<i>In America</i> (film) 2002 film by Jim Sheridan

In America is a 2002 drama film directed by Jim Sheridan. The semi-autobiographical screenplay by Jim Sheridan and his daughters, Naomi and Kirsten, focuses on an immigrant Irish family's struggle to start a new life in New York City, as seen through the eyes of the elder daughter.

<i>Dracula</i> (1958 film) 1958 horror film directed by Terence Fisher

Dracula is a 1958 British gothic horror film directed by Terence Fisher and written by Jimmy Sangster based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name. The first in the series of Hammer Horror films starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the film also features Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing, along with Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh, and John Van Eyssen. In the United States, the film was retitled Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the U.S. original by Universal Pictures, 1931's Dracula.

<i>Mercury Rising</i> 1998 film by Harold Becker

Mercury Rising is a 1998 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Harold Becker, the film is based on Ryne Douglas Pearson's 1996 novel originally published as Simple Simon, which was the working title of the film. Willis plays Art Jeffries, an undercover FBI agent who protects a nine-year-old autistic boy, Simon Lynch, who is targeted by government assassins after he cracks a top secret government code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannyn Sossamon</span> American actress (born 1978)

Shannon Marie Kahololani "Shannyn" Sossamon is an American actress. She has appeared in the films A Knight's Tale (2001), 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002), The Rules of Attraction (2002), The Order (2003), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), The Holiday (2006), Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006), Road to Nowhere (2009), The End of Love (2012), and Sinister 2 (2015).

<i>High Art</i> 1998 film by Lisa Cholodenko

High Art is a 1998 independent romantic drama written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. It premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and saw a limited release in the United States on June 12, 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Miller</span> American actress and film director (born 1962)

Rebecca Augusta Miller, Lady Day-Lewis is an American filmmaker and novelist. She is known for her films Angela (1995), Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002), The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), and Maggie's Plan (2015), all of which she wrote and directed, as well as her novels The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and Jacob's Folly. Miller received the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Personal Velocity and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Director for Angela.

<i>Wonderland</i> (2003 film) 2003 American crime and drama film by James Cox

Wonderland is a 2003 American crime drama film, co-written and directed by James Cox and based on the real-life Wonderland Murders that occurred in 1981. The film stars Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Carrie Fisher, Lisa Kudrow, Josh Lucas, Christina Applegate, Tim Blake Nelson, and Janeane Garofalo. Kilmer plays the role of John Holmes, a famous pornographic film star and suspected accomplice in four grisly murders committed in a house at 8763 Wonderland Avenue, in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles. The film uses a nonlinear Rashomon-style narrative structure to present conflicting accounts of the murders from differing perspectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Evans (comedian)</span> British stand-up comedian and actor

Lee John Martin Evans is an British former comedian, actor, musician, singer, and writer. He co-founded the production company Little Mo Films with Addison Cresswell, who was also his agent prior to Cresswell's death in December 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wash Westmoreland</span> British film director

Paul "Wash" Westmoreland, previously known professionally as Wash West, is a British director who has worked in television, documentaries, and independent films. He frequently collaborated with his husband, writer-director Richard Glatzer. Together, they wrote and directed the 2014 film Still Alice, based on Lisa Genova's NYT best-selling book and starred Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, and Alec Baldwin. The film won many awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actress for Julianne Moore and Humanitas Prize for feature film for the duo. Their 2006 coming-of-age feature film, Quinceañera, won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

<i>Hotel for Dogs</i> (film) 2009 film by Thor Freudenthal

Hotel for Dogs is a 2009 American family comedy film directed by Thor Freudenthal in his directorial debut, and based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. Starring Jake T. Austin, Emma Roberts, Kyla Pratt, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle, the film tells the story of two orphaned siblings, who secretly take in stray dogs along with their family dog at a vacant hotel.

The Butcher Brothers are the filmmaking alter-egos of American film directors Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores.

<i>Revenge</i> (1971 film) 1971 British thriller film directed by Sidney Hayers

Not to be confused with the American TV movie Revenge! (1971)

<i>Martha Marcy May Marlene</i> 2011 film

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller-drama film written and directed by Sean Durkin in his directional feature film debut, and starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy. The plot focuses on a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains.

<i>River of Grass</i> 1994 American film

River of Grass is a 1994 American independent film directed by Kelly Reichardt in her feature film directorial debut. Reichardt wrote the screenplay from a story by her and Jesse Hartman. It was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, and was nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and four Independent Spirit Awards.

<i>Cooties</i> (film) 2014 American horror comedy zombie film by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion

Cooties is a 2014 American zombie comedy film directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion from a screenplay that was written by Ian Brennan and Leigh Whannell. It stars Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Rainn Wilson, Jack McBrayer, Whannell, Nasim Pedrad, Brennan, and Jorge Garcia as a group of elementary school employees who fight to survive an outbreak among students that turn them into aggressive zombies when someone eats chicken nuggets that contain a virus.

<i>The Hero</i> (2017 film) 2017 American film

The Hero is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed and edited by Brett Haley and written by Haley and Marc Basch. It stars Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman and Katharine Ross and follows an aging movie star who deals with his terminal illness.

References

  1. 1 2 Houston, Don (November 22, 2003). "Bark". DVD Talk .
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bark! Review, from Variety
  3. After Friends: Looking for a Second Act, an August 18, 2002 article from The New York Times