AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK

Name: AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK
Item: AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK
Author: Review

"Man on a Mission"

Family Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK is an absurd comedy about a man on a mission. AJ is a man of habit. One of his daily routines is to take his two chihuahua dogs to the dog park. Arriving at the park one day, he finds it’s been renamed a blog park and taken over by people at desks working on computers. AJ decides to become mayor so he can take back his dog park. He undergoes a series of unconventional challenges to unseat the current mayor. However, he soon discovers that while becoming mayor solves the park problem, a host of more dire issues are arising.

AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK is funny and well produced, considering its low budget. It’s very creative, and the cast does a great job. That said, the movie stretches on for quite some time with multiple climaxes and endings. AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK has a mixed pagan worldview with Romantic, pagan and moral content. It also has some strong violence and brief crude language. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.

Content:

(Pa, Ro, B, C, Ab, L, N, VV, S, A, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Mixed pagan worldview with Romantic, pagan, moral elements where self-fulfillment and happiness are viewed as an entitlement, mixed with some moral, redemptive values highlight the importance of good relationships, main character reconciles with those whom he ignored and left behind in pursuit of a goal, he also protects his town and those he loves from an evil monster that surfaces to take out his town, plus main character misquotes a verse from the Bible in one scene;

Foul Language:

Three obscenities (including one “f” word), one light profanity, and a woman calls a man a demon.

Violence:

Strong and light violence includes man gets punched in the face and blood is seen, man punches a dummy’s head off (the dummy is a stand-in for the real person the man hates), man catches the dummy’s head and dunks it in a basketball hoop, father tries to injure his son with a scythe, the son retaliates and knocks his father unconscious with one punch, scene depicts a man with bugs crawling out of his mouth and blood running down his chin, woman holds a gun to a man’s head intending to shoot him, woman burns down a house, two people are hired to kill a man, a large skull made up of flames is seen in a fire, man drives over a cliff into lava, large monster called a demon slayer tries to annihilate a town, helicopters shoot at the monster, the monster destroys the helicopters along with some shops, and skeletons attack main character.

Sex:

No sex scenes, but there’s a crude sexual innuendo involving the word “pounding,” different couples kiss, one couple talks about kissing;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

Man drinks wine, and a man talks about beer;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

A man is kidnapped, man abandons his family to pursue fishing and never returns, woman burns down someone’s house in revenge, and a man leaves behind his friends and family to pursue his goals, but later realizes and makes up with them.

More Detail:

AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK an absurd comedy about a man on a mission. AJ lives a normal, habitual life, doing the same things every single day. One of these daily habits includes taking his two chihuahua dogs to the dog park. When he arrives at the park one day, he finds people at desks, working on computers. The mayor has turned the park into a blog park. AJ and his dogs are quickly expelled from the premises.

AJ decides he must reclaim his dog park, but the mayor refuses to change the park. So, AJ takes matters into his own hands and decides to unseat the mayor and take the position himself. With his dog park in mind, AJ starts training. To unseat the mayor, he must go through a series of unconventional challenges. As he starts training and conquering each one of the challenges, he starts focusing so much on his goal of becoming mayor that he abandons his friends and even his dogs.

When AJ finally succeeds and becomes mayor, he realizes that many years have passed and he doesn’t even know where his dogs are or what happened to his friends. He sets off to find them and reconnect. When they finally all reunite, a joyous moment turns south in an extraordinary way.

AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK is shot on a micro budget, but it does a good job of being extremely creative. Much of the imagery, especially the visual effects and action scenes, are notably basic and low budget, but they often play into the story’s comical side very well. Director Toby Jones uses his experience in animation to make comical animated effects. The cast does a fantastic job. Their performances really drive the movie. However, the movie continues far longer than it should have. There are multiple climaxes and endings. Also, it feels like the filmmakers just started throwing in random subplots.

AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK has a mixed pagan worldview with Romantic, pagan and moral elements. For example, AJ views self-fulfillment and happiness as an entitlement. He believes he deserves success and happiness and that it’s his individual right. As a result, he leaves behind those he loves just to go after his desires. This starts to change near the end, however, when he realizes that none of the things he acquired bring fulfillment or happiness without his friends and dogs in his life. Eventually, he must defend those he loves, and reconciliation and humility are extolled. That said, right and wrong are still ultimately driven by feelings and emotions.

AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK also has some strong violence and brief foul language. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.