Mischa Barton Venice Magazine

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`Lawn Dogs`

Venice Magazine Review

Mischa Barton

Mischa Barton makes a dynamic and alluring turn as Devon in John Duigan’s recently

released film Lawn Dogs. Living in a suburban Louisville locale called ‘Camelot Gardens’

Devon befriends the local Lawnmower man, Trent Burns, portrayed by the steamy and

occasionally nude Sam Rockwell. From there an unusual friendship develops with

unexpected turns and twists. A well crafted story by acclaimed playwright Naomi Wallace

provides a unique foundation for an in-depth and at times straight-out bizarre potrait of an

affluent Southern housing project. The subtleties of deception even when one is in a

forcibly homogenized environment play out as a surreal yet emotionally tangible suburban

drama, from the jock thugs to the sexually promiscuous homemaker, Devon’s mother

(played wryly by Kathleen Quinlan).

One of the more appealing aspects to the film, and there are many, is the performance by

Miss Barton. Playing the role of the-trapped-and-trying-to-get-out Devon, Mischa brings a

troubled young girl to life. Screenwriter Wallace is responsible for the complex moral

ambiguities Devon is plagued by, and Mischa rises to the occasion with strength and

simplicity. Her flights of fancy go from making raisin cookies with flies to doing a dance

with severed chicken feet, which as she says, was ‘not my favorite scene’. ‘They were real

and freshly cut’. There are many memorable scenes and themes, both for Mischa and the

rest of the cast. One, especially involves a strangely homeoerotic conflict between Trent

(Sam Rockwell) and Sean (Eric Mabius).

After writing and performing a monologue at a Philadelphia summer camp, Mischa says

that ‘people liked my acting, so I got into the business’. She soon began the audition

experience and things have been going very well ever since. An accomplished television and

theater performer in New York, Mischa loves sports, listens to the Wallflowers, and, for an

eleven year old is very committed to acting. We will definately be seeing more of her!

Lindsay Bishop

FILM REVIEW

`Pups': They've Got Hostages, and They Want Their MTV

February 14, 2000

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By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

Stevie and Rocky are a Bonnie and Clyde for the MTV generation.

Two 13-year-olds, precariously imbalanced on the edge of a new millennium, they impulsively digress from their morning walk to school one day in December 1999 to hold up a bank in "Pups."

Armed with a .44 Magnum taken from the closet of Stevie's absent mother, energized by inchoate anger and disappointment with the world, fantasizing about running off to the Galápagos Islands for a better life, they make hostages of employees and customers, shoot a security guard and find themselves surrounded by the F.B.I., police officers, SWAT teams and helicopters.

As the standoff plays out, the hyperkinetic, perceptive though derivative "Pups," produced, directed and written by a filmmaker who goes by the single name Ash, takes a knowing look at adolescents informed but not educated by television and movies in a less than perfect United States.

With a staginess reminiscent of "The Petrified Forest" and with overt and covert references to films like "Bonnie and Clyde," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Of Mice and Men" and even "All Quiet on the Western Front," Ash's adrenal little film, like its adolescent main characters, has been shaped, for better and worse, by the screen.

With easy access to guns and little access to life except as depicted on television and in videos and movies, the teenagers talk like grown-ups and think and act like confused children unable to distinguish reality from make-believe.

Obscenities, threats and sexual boasts are part of their vocabulary. So are solitary games involving video cameras, nooses and the police; complaints about environmental pollution and neglectful parents; confessional self-analysis; allegations of sexual abuse; and a cynical knowledge of how to manipulate authority figures. Pizza, beer and soda are their treats. A visit from MTV is among Stevie's demands, as are margarita mix, condoms and an end to smoking by the F.B.I. commander.

Stevie (Cameron Van Hoy), wearing a T-shirt imprinted with a yellow smiley face, is thrilled to see himself on the news on the bank's television. He calls Rocky (Mischa Barton), in her tank top imprinted with a red heart, to look.

"Cool," she says.

When Stevie receives his visit from MTV Kurt Loder, playing himself, arrives for the interview and tells the boy: "We do Manson. We do Madonna. Now we're doing you."

Part of Stevie fancies himself a sophisticate. "We're no suckers," he says to street people who try to sell him and Rocky 3-week-old pit bull pups. Stevie, who resorts frequently to an inhaler to ease his respiratory problems, tells Rocky that the dogs were separated too soon from their mother and their immune system is therefore compromised.

Once the authorities respond to the holdup, Stevie finds himself negotiating with Daniel Bender, an F.B.I. agent played by Burt Reynolds with a workmanlike mixture of toughness, irascibility and mission. Irked by his importunate superior and repeatedly interrupted by cell-phone calls from his family, Bender is a patient professional determined to end the matter without further bloodshed.

Stevie, portrayed as a volatile, fast-talking compendium of pop culture, childish rage, adolescent mischief and adult stupidity and remorse, is compassionate enough to free the wounded guard and wise enough in the ways of power politics and televised hostage situations to give orders to Bender, whose family is watching the drama on the news.

Rocky, in a layered performance, combines loyal girlfriend and voice of reason with deep cynicism toward the world she was born into and now is shaping.

The hostages, some written more fully than others, consist not only of the manager and a couple of tellers, but also of customers who include a Persian Gulf war veteran in a wheelchair (Adam Farrar) and Mr. Edwards (Ed Metzger), a World War II veteran with a cane. The pairing provides Ash with yet another opportunity for a generational skirmish.

Says the older veteran, "America used to be a great country."

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Pups Movie Review from Amazon

So thirteen year-olds are real, July 31, 2000

Reviewer: Gordon Kearns St. Louis, MO USA

In the past twelve years are so, there has appeared a spate of good movies that proved to be a minor revolution of sorts. In effect, they dragged that frustratingly enigmatic 10 to 15 year-old age group out of the Pollyanna era of easy stereotyping and presented the youngsters dwelling there as real, sentient human beings. Not only did they present youthful characters who were quite human in their thoughts, drives, ambitions, decisions, and dialog, but they were cast with youthful actors of real substance, who could stand up with the best of adults in the profession. "Emma's Shadow", "Leon", "Bastard Out of Carolina", "Ellen Foster", "The Mighty", "The Cure", "Lawn Dogs", "Digging to China", and "Tumbleweeds" are a few such daring offerings. Unfortunately, most of these pictures, being independents, made-for-tv productions, or controversial in content, received little public recognition or theatrical exposure.

"Pups" follows the pattern in three ways. The two middle-school aged kids in this movie certainly have to be taken seriously. Sure they acted impulsively and irresponsibly; kids who would decide on the spur of the moment to rob a bank are not acting responsibly. Adults have been known to choose as bad or worse actions, and for even less reason. Obviously, there were situations in Stevie's life that seemed to lead him in that dangerous direction. And obviously, even before he found his mother's gun, you were given to know that on this particular day Stevie was a disaster looking for a place to happen. And even though Rocky joined him in his dangerous acts because of her attachment to him, you were given to know she did so reluctantly (girls have been known to do that kind of thing in the adult world too). That she would get caught up in the thrill of the adventure and power of it all is quite human as well, which made the situation the scarier since it seemed she might represent the only hope for a rational resolution. FBI agent Daniel Bender (Burt Reynolds) grew to be quite concerned for Stevie and Rocky as kids, and he struggled desperately to keep them from getting hurt; but he didn't seem to know how to relate to them as thinking and feeling humans.

"Pups" also follows the trend of those other revolutionary movies by getting very little public exposure. Real-life tragedy interceded too dramatically.

Finally, "Pups" follows the pattern by casting in the roles of Stevie and Rocky two young actors of consummate skill. Cameron Van Hoy is remarkable in his first major role, and Mischa Barton adds another great performance to her already impressive acting history (check out her stunning reading of the role of the complex Devon in "Lawn Dogs").

This is as powerful a movie as you'll ever see, possibly too powerful for some. But if for no other reason, I recommend you see "Pups" for the excitement of watching a pair of outstanding young actors in action.

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