Fantastic Fest 2024 ‘AJ Goes To The Dog Park’ Review – A Nonsensically Delectable Comedy
In Fargo, North Dakota, AJ (AJ Thompson) turns down a technical consultant promotion because he is perfectly content with his entry-level position and life. He eats toast every morning for breakfast, waves to the same coffee store girl on the way to work every morning, has dinner with his dad or married best friends, and watches YouTube videos with his dogs every night to fall asleep. His job is relaxed enough that he has little stress and the highlight of his day is walking his dogs at the local dog park.
However, when the dog park becomes a blog park with no dogs allowed, AJ begins losing the precious daily routine he holds so dear. He marches into the office of The Mayor (Crystal Cossette Knight) and demands that she restore the dog park to its former glory.
After essentially being laughed out of the building, AJ remembers that The Mayor mentioned that she originally obtained the position by doing five things: fighting, fishing, scrapping, scraping, and sapping. AJ decides to become a professional at those five things to become mayor himself and restore the dog park and hopefully get his life back on track.
Toby Jones is known for being a writer on animated programs such as OK K.O.! Let’s Play Heroes and Regular Show. AJ Goes to the Dog Park is Jones’ debut as a live-action full-length filmmaker. Interestingly enough, he brought some recognizable names to help with his film. OK K.O.! creator Ian Jones-Quartey serves as a creative consultant and Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar has a new song called “My Hill to Die On” that plays over the end credits. If you’re a fan of Sugar’s songwriting, this is a huge treat and the crazy guitar solo in the middle of it is a welcome bonus.
Infinity Train creator Owen Dennis may be the film’s MVP. He writes and performs “Mastering the Carmello Elbow Technique” for the elbow training montage in the film, is responsible for the film’s digital and practical VFX, served as one of the film’s executive producers, and directed the Demon Lord Krogloch and elbow training sequences. The Dennis-directed sequences deliver some of the most humor and action in the film. The elbow montage has a gag where AJ is seen in the shower as two disembodied elbows with loofahs strapped to them bathe his body.
The film is purposely ludicrous. It’s super low-budget with practical and CGI effects to match, but that’s also part of its charm. AJ Goes to the Dog Park embraces the animation roots Toby Jones perfected over a decade in the industry.
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As a comedy, AJ Goes to the Dog Park is loaded with wild gags that shouldn’t work in a live-action film and outrageous puns. Early in the film AJ takes his dogs out of their carrier to play at the park only to be blown away in the wind like doggie tumbleweeds. Soon after, AJ is told to leave the blog park since he brought his dogs. A leaf blower is shoved in his face, and when it’s turned on a lightweight dummy version of AJ is seen rolling down a grassy hill.
AJ’s dogs are often real dogs in some segments, but noticeably fake stuffed animals most of the time for no particular reason. They’re shown being shoved into a carrier or carried around by AJ or one of his friends, so it’s not like a stuffed stunt double is needed for some crazy stunt. They’re used to showcase the dogs sitting on the couch. The one payoff is that later on the dogs are shown with long gray beards, which makes you wonder if the stuffed animal thing was solely for that ten-second joke.
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Nearly every side character with any general purpose is given a flashback that is either relevant to the film in some capacity or used to explain motivation for said character. These flashbacks are animated and generally look like a living coloring book.
There is a ton of creativity in the film, but it doesn’t always work. The slapstick humor misses more often than not and when it does land it usually isn’t laugh-out-loud funny. The story also feels like the story of an animated short stretched throughout a 70-minute film. AJ Goes to the Dog Park doesn’t make much sense, but it also isn’t trying to be coherent.
There’s a wackiness here you can’t find in a lot of films. And while the finale is incredibly awesome and arguably the best part of the film, it comes completely out of nowhere and is irrelevant to everything else going on.
AJ Goes to the Dog Park is a downright loony indie comedy bursting with imaginative genius. But it feels like its eccentricities derail any sort of linear storytelling, which is both uniquely inviting and somewhat distracting.
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AJ Goes to the Dog Park (2024), Dog Park Productions
PROS
- The elbow training montage
- The WTF ending
- Rebecca Sugar's new song
CONS
- Humor is hit or miss
- Story feels almost nonexistent
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