ZEN DOG

Film Review by FIORE

There are two types of approaches to film.  The first sees film as primarily an entertainment medium, designed to provide a form of enjoyment and relaxation.  The other sees film as art, a way of reflecting and perhaps redirecting the flow of life.  ZEN DOG, the latest film by Rick Darge, falls firmly into the latter category.  At its core, the film basically promotes better living through drugs.

Kyle Gallner plays Mud.  He is pretty much the common man; set with a daily routine that includes monotonous repetition and a job in which he is nothing more than a peon.  One day, his oddball cousin, Dwayne, played by Adam Herschman, unexpectedly crashes into Mud’s crib for a few days while on spring break.  While related, it seems there is a distance between the lads, until Dwayne introduces Mud to an all-natural herb with the properties of LSD.  The herb is coupled with the preachings of Timothy Leary.  Soon, Mud is experiencing an alternate level of existence hearkening back to the Hade Asbury days of San Francisco, complete with fringe vests and psychedelic Volkswagens.

ZEN DOG, then, is a simultaneous journey through Mud’s real life and his drug induced life, all the while a narrator attempts to question all forms of reality.  When I was in college, back in the Plioescene Era, future drop outs would gather, smoke themselves to oblivion, and then become amazed that the entire world might be in a locker room in an alien transport station, much like the ending of MEN IN BLACK 2.   If you’re still into that form of entertainment, you might find something of value in ZEN DOG.  Otherwise, it’s a film purposely confusing, offering a philosophy comfortable only for those who refuse to take responsibility for their own existence.  ZEN DOG makes a fine film for philosophy teachers.