Lawn Dogs

I've got a few of those LG-lover movie lists on my hard drive, so it's not like I just heard about this movie now, but I don't really go out of my way to hunt these movies down. I'm sure there are a lot of adoreable girls in them, but there are also a lot of adorable girls in real life, and not only do I occasionally get to interact with these girls, I tend to find them to be a little more interesting, too. If I'm going to watch a movie, I'd much rather it be something like Fight Club or Memento, something with a strong message, something with style, something that really makes you think... you know, something that crawls inside your head and gently kicks the crap out of your brain.

I'm not entirely sure if the message I got out of Lawn Dogs was the one the filmmakers intended, and I must admit that it's a tad more simplistic than Memento, but this movie still managed to open up a can of whoop-ass on my neurons.

I'm tempted to write up a quick little review here, but I'm sure I'd be wasting my time. I'm sure all of you guys have seen this movie--and if you haven't, there's not much else I can say other than go watch it, not tomorrow, not next week, but right now! It's unpredictable, it's got insanely cute and wonderfully bizzare GMs, it's got a very unique lg who, despite being mature for her age, remains the most realistic child I've ever seen portrayed on the silver screen, and most of all it's just the most... relevant movie I've ever seen.

Here I am, trying to scrape by working hard, low-paying manual labor so I can get out of this country, and Trent's doing exactly the same thing (oh ok, he just says "leave this place", but that's close enough for me.) Devon also reminds me a LOT of the main lg in my life (her facial expressions mostly, though also her style of speech), and the completely unexpected, surreal ending to the movie (I, for one, was positive that Trent was dead meat) completely echoed the magic and saddness I feel when I think about leaving Jenny (my lgf) and heading out into the unknown.

It's not unheard of for me to cry during movies (Life is Beautiful gets me almost every time), but it's pretty rare, and I've never actually sobbed until now. I pretty much exploded into tears when Devon and Trent finally parted... very awe-inspiring, very surprising ending. What Devon said to Trent at the end was the most romantic thing I've ever heard--maybe that's just because my sweetest moments with Jenny are when I'm caressing her face...

I'm not sure what impressed me more, that one of the major themes of this movie was fear of pedophilia, or that this fear was succesfully attacked (in the most literal sense of the word) and that the movie subsequently ended on such wonderfully bittersweet note. Has anything like this ever been filmed (or written) before? If so, what? I know that there are other films out there that deal with man/girl relationships, but how many of them portray society's negative reaction to the relationship, yet portray the relationship itself in the brightest of lights?