Fantastic Fest Review: AJ Goes to the Dog Park Is a Comedy You Get or You Don't
AJ Goes to the Dog Park is a "gag-driven" comedy that premiered at Fantastic Fest.
AJ Goes to the Dog Park is described as a "gag-driven" comedy by the filmmakers, and if that doesn't make sense, then the first five minutes of the movie will tell you exactly what that means, and how accurate it is. In the opening scenes, you'll find jokes like AJ kicking through a door and creating a man-shaped hole, AJ getting blown away by a leaf blower, AJ reading a brochure telling him what he can eat for breakfast after his buttered toast is recalled, AJ crushing his remote with his hand and eating the pieces, and a series of spit takes that are both escalating and nauseating. There's also some choice dialogue exchanges like:
"So apparently what we did is called kissing."
"So there's precedent, and I'm not seeing anything in here saying it's illegal."
Did you roll your eyes at all that? Or did a sensible chuckle tumble its way out of you at some point? This isn't a full litmus test for whether you'll appreciate the humor of AJ Goes to the Dog Park but it's not a bad place to start, considering the lengths it goes to.
A surrealist film about happy-go-lucky AJ (played by AJ Thompson) and his quest to get the dog park of his hometown returned to its rightful place, the film plays out like a series of sketches stitched together. On the surface, this could very well be an irritating style that doesn't translate to a polished, final film project, but writer/director Toby Jones has found a delicate balance. Just when you believe that AJ Goes to the Dog Park has run out of steam and its gags have become tired, it pivots into another direction, finding not only fresh new life, but bizarre depths to mine for comedy's sake. Sometimes this means an interlude about two characters that were just introduced eight minutes prior, sometimes it means an animated backstory for a brand-new character.
If there's something to ding AJ Goes to the Dog Park about, even as someone that appreciates its often bewildering sense of humor, is that sometimes its gags overstay their welcome. The good news is that if you find yourself growing tired of whatever bit the film has committed itself to, you know that in just a few minutes, or maybe even seconds, it will move on to something else
AJ Goes to the Dog Park feels like every episode of an Adult Swim show that airs at 2 a.m. in five minute increments has been supercut together into a feature. I say this in a complimentary manner, but if you have a normal brain that doesn't giggle incessantly at non-sequitur editing and deliberately obtuse stylings, this may sound like the most irritating thing on the planet. For those of us that appreciate a comedy style equivalent to throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, this will be a cherished little treasure that we can laugh about with our equally minded friends. It's a movie that you either get, or you don't.
Rating: 4 out of 5
