Fido (Andrew Currie, 2007)

I'm not using the traditional poster art for Andrew Currie's surprisingly wonderful film because, as has been said better than I could, Lionsgate really screwed the pooch with their marketing of this film. Seriously, you've got to figure that they know there's already a built-in (weirdo) audience for a zombie family film/social satire of American culture, and, with a little smart marketing, this could have been a small breakout surprise. But alas, that didn't happen. That rarely happens. Fido is the story of an alternate reality America, date unknown, that is premanently stuck in the ultra-perfect, stereotypical 50s America. Mom (Carrie Ann Moss, in an absolutely wonderful performance) wears beautiful dresses (of which I am eternally jealous -- I want her wardrobe in this film so badly) and bakes roasts; Dad (Dylan Baker, who is great in everything) is removed from his wife (physically -- two beds -- and mentally) and his son; and son Timmy (K'Sun Ray) gets bullied at school until his loyal pet stands up for him. But his pet Fido isn't a dog, it's a zombie. Since the zombie wars, cities have been fenced in and zombies are controllable via an omnipotent company ZomCon, who invented a collar to make zombies obedient. Billy Connolly is Fido, in an amazing performance, considering he doesn't have one single line. His entire performance is dog-like actions and expressions, and he does a great job at conveying the kind of love between a family pet and a human. Fido was a smoker! But more than a sendup of 50s America, this is a story about family, and about love. The last half hour, while the weakest part in the film in some ways, has some of the most touching, sincere displays of familial love I've seen in a while. Mr. Theopolis (Tim Blake Nelson), is in love with his zombie, Rammy, and treats her better than most of the human husbands and wives we meet. The quasi-romance between Mrs. Robinson and Fido is a very clever pastiche of All That Heaven Allows, and the zombies echo the plight of immigrants and the unseen in American culture, even today. But above all, this is a family story, about what keeps a family together, even through a zombie war, head coffins, and kids with pistols. Expect to see this in my best of list in a few weeks. 8/10

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