Puppy

Mental illness can be a bit of a touchy subject for me. I have my own issues, as well as members of my family. So when it comes up in movies, it can go one of two ways: the main character was crazy all along, or there's just something "off" about the character. Puppy didn't use either of those, and the result is quite odd. We start with Liz, an irresponsible brat that's banging her brother in law. After running over her dog and getting kicked out, she decides to commit suicide. She's rescued by Aiden, who then ties her up and claims she's the wife who left him.

At that moment we realize Aiden is severely mentally ill. The biggest problem I have is that we're never told what he has. It might not be essential to the story, but it would help explain the random delusions Aiden experiences. We're basically told he's just crazy to be crazy. And yet he's on medication. This is pretty much a 90 minute analysis of Stockholm Syndrome. It's just boring, and I just have more questions than I think I should.

How did Aiden find Liz? Why exactly did his wife leave him? How did Liz know he was off his meds? I have a long list that I don't care to get into. This wasn't that great. It started off interesting, and then fizzled out and died. I give it a 2 out of 5. It's not as offensive as most of what I've seen recently. But I still don't like how the subject of mental illness was handled.  I think it was going for black comedy, but it wasn't funny or that dark.

Then I did a little more research on the film. As it turns out the director is self-taught, this was his first film, and it was shot in 20 days. That explains everything.