Fido Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)April 19th, 2007
FIDO
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
In a time when way too many comedies are so obsessed with their political subtext -- which are anything but "sub" in the narrative -- that they feel the need to beat you over the head with it, lest you miss the point, FIDO is content just to amuse and delight us. Sure, there is a lot of delicious subtext in this film by director Andrew Currie, but he is completely happy just entertaining us, without feeling the need to underline every one of his points and print them in bold. And entertain us he does, with a really cute and quite funny film.
The movie opens with an "old" black-and-white 1950's educational film called A BRIGHT NEW WORLD. Told in the tone of the old duck-and-cover atomic bomb films, the movie warns kids sternly about the dangers of the zombies, since "they have only one goal -- to eat your flesh."
Well, not to worry since, after the success of the Zombie Wars, "Zomcon" has been protecting America. And, with electric collars on the zombies, they have been turned into cheap labor -- oafish, slow and clumsy servants who shuttle about while issuing low grunts and growls.
In FIDO, Billy Connolly is perfectly cast as a zombie named Fido. He was named this by his master, a young lad named Timmy Robinson (K'Sun Ray) who likes to play with his pet zombie, tossing a ball for Fido to bring back. Connolly's very expressive eyes show that his zombie may be dead, but he has feelings too.
One of objects of Fido's affections is Timmy's mommy Helen, played by the alluring Carrie-Anne Moss (THE MATRIX). Although the director, who was at our screening, swore that, when Helen gets pregnant, Fido is not the father, I'm not buying it. Helen's eyes suggest that something is happening between Fido and her. And, since the movie is carefully imbued with 1950's movie morals in which nothing is shown but a lot is hinted at, I don't think the director fully understands his own movie, even if he shares in the writing credits.
But never mind. This is a movie that you can enjoy on many levels. Dylan Baker is terrific as Bill, who is Timmy's obvious father and Helen's equally out-to-lunch husband. Only when Helen appears to be hiding a basketball in her pants does he realize that she has become pregnant. Bill is also a worrywart. "Death insurance" is expensive, we are told, since a proper burial is required, lest the deceased live on forever as a zombie. The first thing that he thinks of when he realizes that he's to be a daddy again is that he can't afford the death insurance. Or, as Bill puts it, "I just don't think I can afford another funeral."
One of my favorite small parts is that of Tammy (Sonja Bennett), the zombie love slave of a Hugh Hefner wannabe named Mr. Theopolis (Tim Blake Nelson).
Shot in bright, primary colors with vintage automobiles around the corner of every wide and tree-lined street, FIDO is a joy to behold as well. But mainly it's a sweet little comedy that never commits the cardinal sin of taking itself too seriously.
FIDO runs 1:33. It is rated PG-13 for "sequences of zombie violence and gore, and comic horror situations" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, June 15, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas. The movie was shown recently at the Camera Cinema Club (http://www.cameracinemas.com) of Campbell and San Jose.
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