Bark!

2002 film

Bark!
Directed by	Katarzyna Adamik
Written by	Heather Morgan
Starring	Lee Tergesen Heather Morgan Lisa Kudrow Vincent D'Onofrio Hank Azaria
Distributed by	TVA International^[2]
Release date	January 11, 2002 (2002-01-11) (Sundance)^[1]
Running time	100 minutes^[1]
Language	English

Bark! is a 2002 film written by Heather Morgan, directed by Katarzyna Adamik (the daughter of director Agnieszka Holland) and starring Morgan, Lee Tergesen, and Lisa Kudrow. The film debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize.^{[citation needed]}

The "extremely low-budget" film,^[3] had its origins in a 90-second comedy sketch.^[1]

Plot

The film depicts Lucy, a professional dogwalker (played by Morgan), who gradually assumes the identity of a dog. Tergesen plays Peter, her embarrassed husband, and Kudrow plays their veterinarian.

Cast

Lee Tergesen as Peter
Heather Morgan as Lucy
Lisa Kudrow as Darla
Vincent D'Onofrio as Malcolm
Hank Azaria as Sam
Mary Jo Deschanel as Betty
Scott Wilson as Harold
Aimee Graham as Rebecca
Wade Andrew Williams as Tom

Release

The film was screened at several film festivals, including the Moscow International Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, the Warsaw International Film Festival, and the Cleveland International Film Festival, but never received a theatrical release.^{[citation needed]}

The film was eventually released on DVD in 2003 by TVA International.^[2]

Reception

Variety, reviewing the film after its Sundance screening, said it "seems to be a throwback to the craziness-as-higher-expression-of-individuality school that was in vogue between The King of Hearts and Harold and Maude, noting "Lucy's withdrawal doesn't seem to spring from anything — unless urban life's everyday rudeness and an overbearingly suburban-banal family background count — and scene by scene, Bark! builds no discernible rhythm, viewpoint or mood apart from a faint, rudderless, shaggy-joke tenor.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bark! Review, from Variety
^ ^a ^b Houston, Don (November 22, 2003). "Bark". DVD Talk.
^ After Friends: Looking for a Second Act, an August 18, 2002 article from The New York Times