Great Dane (NR)

“It’s a scam…it’s hard to meet a nice fellow these days,” utters Grace. 

If I’ve learned anything from the stylings of writer/director Alexei Slater, it’s to expect the unexpected. In his indie production “Ewww,” he sweeps the depths of the bizarre, starting with an awkward first date that quickly catapults from getting to know you banter to pornography and worse things. So it’s no surprise that his latest, the 2017 “Great Dane,” follows suit. No, this film isn’t as depraved or tongue-in-cheek as “Ewww,” nor as sweet as “The Driving Seat,” which he produced. But it’s quirky, humorous, and, under it all, unexpectedly sweet. 

Plot is basically out the window here. But if you must need a description, it’s about a woman named Grace (Maddie Rice) who is looking for a lost dog/girl/herself – whatever, who attracts the interest of a theatre major named Clive (Tom Machell) to help her find this lost item. Tom rehearses lines from a play before, during, and after meeting Grace, which blurs the lines of reality and sense in the movie while adding a layer of humor to the film. When he realizes that Grace may in fact have lost her daughter he acts like any sensible adult would – he pulls out his cell phone and attempts to call the cops. Grace urges him to stop. It’s a scam you see; and while initially put aback, Clive is intrigued by this woman and her gambit to attract a man. He’s perplexed, appalled, but yet attracted. 

“Great Dane” is directed by James Weber, who has a plethora of shorts to his name and has won 9 awards at various film festivals. He and director of photography Lorenzo Levrini work together to create a picture that is crisp, clear, and brilliantly filmed. The lighting, sound, and editing seem top of the line. 

The dialogue also hits the mark. Machell and Rice are clearly enjoying their roles here, playing odd and bizarre characters that have the ability to make us care about them. Who doesn’t wish they could meet someone nice? And in the often disinterested and impersonal world of online dating, the real world meet-up is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Machell and Rice makes believe their intentions and aims. And while these are markedly odd, the emotions are real, which is of course the reason we watch movies in the first place. 

The devil is in the dialogue here. “Great Dane” isn’t really about anything. It’s about emotions and quirk, and in this department excels wonderfully. It’s what separates indies from Hollywood money makers. The dialogue is very believable for no other reason than it makes us feel something, a credit to the script by Slater and the direction by Weber throughout. 

I will say the milieu for this meet cute – a dog park – is an interesting one. Slater showed us the awkwardness of the bar scene before in “Ewww;’ here he offers another arena for his characters to come to terms with their emotions. 

If criticism do exists, I would say that the 9-minute run of the film is a bit short. I would have liked to see what happened to this couple as they navigate their peculiar arrangement. It ends oddly, the two of them playing games with passerbys, that robs the film of what a more focused look at their next step might have been. But, at the end of the day, films are about imagination. Slater and Weber bring us into this world with ease and grace (no pun intended). The film is also very funny, and is presented as slapstick. 

This is not a drama, and is better off as such. Slater has, with a trilogy of film witnessed by this critic, managed to sweep the depths of various forms of awkwardness and to do so with wit and profundity. As his other productions, I walked away from “Great Dane” with laughs and insight. Not an easy feat for creators to pull off in film after film. It causes one to wonder if Slater is better versed at this genre, and if maybe multi-character variety features could be an ultimate career choice for him. His stories allude to films like the flop “Movie 43;” but unlike that film are inspired and not insipid or insulting. 

The bottom line: give “Great Dane” a try. It’s humorous, clever, and entertaining. It flows fast, is filmed well, and shows great writing potential. Slater and Co. have produced yet another pleasing yarn. I’m interested to see what he has up his sleeve in the future. 

– by Mark Ziobro