Search - Bulldog in the Whitehouse on DVD

Monsieur Laclos must be turning in his grave.

Mark A. Knight | ST. PETERSBURG, FL United States | 05/13/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"French writer Chaderlos de Laclos' "Les Liaisons Dangerous" is a brilliant masterpiece of moral curruption and sexual gamemanship. To date over 10 adaptations of his 1782 literary work have been brought to film, the most notable being Roger Vadim's "Les Liaisons Dangerous," Stephen Frears' "Dangerous Liaisons," Milos Forman's "Valmont," Roger Kumbel's "Cruel Intentions," and E J-Young's "Untold Scandal."

To his credit, creator and star Todd Verow has taste in his source material. To his discredit, he has no other noticeable cinematic talent. A low budget is not a necessary impediment to a good film, Luis Bunuel did wonders with very little money for years, and any Independent film festival usually produces a few gems through the rubble. However, I was really stunned when I saw the first scene of "Bulldog in the Whitehouse." My incredulity stayed with me to the last scene. Yes, I saw all of it. Ugh! I can appreciate Mr. Verow's desire to skewer the soon-to-be ex-President G. W. Bush's reprehensible mismanagement of our country. However, his story, very loosely taken from the Laclos' novel, is badly filmed. Like the cartoon "Lil Bush Resident of the United States" this Bulldog lunges at your throat and gags the viewer, rather than entertain with smart writing or interesting sight gags.

The handheld camcorder is positioned in an extreme closeup throughout every scene. Virtually no sets are used, just uncomfortable tight closeups of "actor's" faces as verbal bile spews from their mouths. Viewing this DVD is an experience, to be sure, but whatever hopes I had of a passable satire of politics decorated with Laclos' superb psychological insights and cultural observations were smashed like the video camera is to the actor's faces.

Todd Verow has an interesting look, and a good body, but his expression rarely changes from a blank look,and when he smiles he doesn't look like someone you'd want to sit next to in public, much less enter your bedroom. His voice is so tiny and without nuance he looks like he's just trying to memorize the lines he wrote. There's no feeling to anything he does. Verow's one good scene has more to do with handsome,young Bryan Safi as President Bush's even stupider doubleganger. Bulldog (Verow) steals into the boytoy president's bed and rapes him, while seducing the pres. into wanting Bulldog to come back for more. It's a creepy scene, but Safi really acts like he's being violated. Verow's passive expression makes him appear robatic and alien in this most intimate of acts.

To be fair, one other plus in "Bulldog in the Whitehouse"s favor is Gail Dennison as a First Lady prototype. She's sweetly maternal with a psychotic mean streak that occasionally flares up. Ms. Dennison is wacky and entertaining. The most interesting irony of this DVD is although it is homoerotic with a capital "H", a matronly actress rivals a sex scene for being the most memorable aspect of this video.
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False Promises

Amos Lassen | Little Rock, Arkansas | 03/04/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Bulldog in the White House"

False Promises

Amos Lassen

Another new film from Todd Verow is "Bulldog in the Whitehouse" (WaterBearer Films), a story of power, deceit and arrogance and a look at the Bush administration. Verow maintains that the players in his film are gay and in a web of diabolical seductions and random trysts. There is great charm and vulgarity in this modern retelling of a classic story by Choderlos de Laclos's "Dangerous Liaisons".
This time the grand marquise is Karl Rove who pulls the strings of a washed up hustler named Bulldog. The two are to obstruct an impending alliance between Bulldog's ex, a feminine religious leader and the president, George W. Bush. Verow, himself, plays Bulldog, a man who rarely wears clothes, a power broker who plows through bedrooms while en route to get a hard pass from the White House press secretary. This pass would allow him to bed the president. As he works his way to his destination, he makes false promises which bring ruin to those involved and we meet Laura Bush in the form of a Lady Macbeth type character who is devoted to Republican ideals. Bulldog manages to have sex with everyone as he works his way through the Bush administration.
This is a fascinating look at the arrogance of power and there is a lot to think about here. It seems that Todd Verow might add himself the title of thinker behind his name.
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