Romantic comedies tend to routine, teary pap for the average single woman (some people think lonely guys like porn films, which is far from true). Boy meets girl, boy and girl falls in love, old lover comes in, boy and girl break in, climatic event, boy and girl reunite. Pass, I say. But I can't say that about "Heavy Petting" a surface-silly, but down-to-earth opus that love can go to the dogs.
Brooklyn coffee shop proprietor Charlie (Brendan Hines of the TV drama "Lie To Me") hangs with his equally single pal, jobless pack rat Raz (Kevin Sussman), looking for their Dream Girls while abhorring the lack of etiquette by dogs. Charlie gets lucky with party dame Daphne (sunny Malin Akerman of "Watchmen", "The Proposal" and "Couples Retreat") and the two have chemistry. Thing is, Daphne hasn't gotten over the passing of her dog, getting a bit blotto during one date. So, she save a mutt, a girl named "Babydoll", from getting put down. The canine becomes a wall to Charlie's libido, since he's no dog lover. . .at first. Surprisingly, Charlie falls for Babydoll, leaving Daphne out in the cold.
Though his direction's standard, Marcel Sarmiento's script is likable and sweet. Hines, a younger version of Tom Everett Scott of the TV cop drama "Southland" is reliable and modest while Akerman, like in "Watchmen" (mainly Zack Snyder's cut), is an interesting surprise here, being more than a cute face. Sussman's a drip in the humor dept, but is nicely upstaged by a "dog whisper" jerk played by Mike Doyle (formerly of Law and Order: SVU), who shamelessly wants Daphne. The dog's cool, being more than a prop.
Sure, there are gross-out moments, but the production's low-beat aura gives "Heavy Petting" a quirky charm. There's love in downtown Brooklyn
dog gone it!
