Lawn Dogs (1997) | agoodmovietowatch
Back
Movie

Lawn Dogs 1997

A friendship is forged between outcasts in eccentric suburban tale

Our Take (by Isabella Endrinal)

Adults and kids can be friends, but there’s obviously a line that shouldn’t be crossed. This line is why most people would look at a friendship like this and automatically assume terrible things, but Lawn Dogs depicts one such connection in such a way that it’s clear how easy and disproportionate these assumptions are made for marginalized and less powerful people, over the affluent sociopaths that can and have gotten away with the accusations they lobby against others. The fairy tale ending, and of course, the disgusting behavior done by the rich guys, might turn some viewers off from the movie, but there’s also something genuine with the way screenwriter Naomi Wallace depicts a girl with a literally different heart who just wants to befriend someone real.

Synopsis

In the affluent, gated community of Camelot Gardens, bored wives indiscriminately sleep around while their unwitting husbands try desperately to climb the social ladder. Trent, a 21-year-old outsider who mows the neighborhood lawns, quietly observes the infidelities and hypocrisies of this overly privileged society. When Devon, a 10-year-old daughter from one family, forges a friendship with Trent, things suddenly get very complicated.

More about it

What happens

After moving to the affluent, gated community of Camelot Gardens, 10-year-old Devon Stockard forms a friendship with the neighborhood’s 21-year-old landscaper Trent Burns, though the innocent platonic connection scandalizes the neighborhood, due to the clear differences between their age and social class.

What sets it apart

Sam Rockwell.

TL;DR

"Home is in my hands." Oh, I'm sobbing.

Awards

Sundance

1 nomination

Nominated: Official Selection

Comments

Add your review

Your email address will not be published.*

About the author

Isabella Endrinal

Isabella Endrinal

Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.