Search - Dingo on DVD

Sweet Miles

ironj | Scottsdale, AZ USA | 10/16/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A small quiet film featuring the music of Miles Davis and starring Davis as, you guessed it a trumpeteer. The film is about a man, John "Dingo" Anderson (Colin Friels), who hears Bill Cross (Davis) and his jazz group as he's on lay over at an airstrip and comes to the realization that music is his future, much to the chagrin of others. His dream is to one day catch up with Bill in in Paris and play with him. What really makes this movie though is the music. Davis does a superb job on the jazz soundtrack and if you see this movie you'll come to a mutual agreeance. It was what initially latched me to this movie, and kept me hooked throughout.A small film with a giant soundtrack."

Primal canine blasts: Fine recurring melody; Miles = smiles

ironj | 03/27/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I listened to the soundtrack from Dingo for many years; today I watched the movie. I was tickled as the themes and audio bites from the soundtrack came together with the story line. Dig the primal canine blasts our hero puts out to the bush and then the audience. Check out the contents of the airplane. As far as Miles goes... I smiled a lot. He's got some great poetic pauses. Should you buy it??? Depthcharge!!"

A good movie featuring a rare view of Miles Davis

Marcus J. Viduya | Campbell, Ca United States | 04/08/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The film itself is simple: seemingly low budget and definitely not a Hollywood-directed-produced film. Its nonetheless charming. Colin Friels plays John "Dingo" Anderson, a man supporting his family in the outback of Australia doing odd jobs by day and playing in (what his band-mates call) a "bush-band" in the local halls at night. Although the band has fun, Dingo takes his trumpetting much more seriously; as a child, he had a run-in with famous jazz trumpeter Billy Cross (Miles Davis, in his only staring fictional role). Cross makes a deep impression on the young Dingo, who's lifes passion afterwards is to meet up with Cross in Paris. Despite financial hardship and a love-triangle treatening his marriage, Dingo takes a leap of faith and travels to Paris to meet his hero. The eventual meeting is not only a "milestone" for Dingo, its a type of redemption for Cross.

Although the acting is minimal, Davis is surprizingly convincing as not only a jazz trumpeter (duh), but also a man searching for meaning in his playing and a man discovering another lost soul like himself in Dingo. A slow-moving but nonetheless good film."

Zen and the Art of Miles Davis

Dawoud Kringle | New York City | 11/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a variation on a classic story of a man facing his destiny. He struggles against the odds, and has the help and example of a master to guide him. One of the oldest stories in the world; yet its always new.

Colin Friels' performance as Dingo Anderson was good. He brought a nice element to the story; a rugged outdoor type of Australian. One that is not normally associated with the world of jazz, yet showed that jazz is not as monolithic as most people would like to think.

Miles Davis, of course, stole every scene he was in. Playing jazz "legend" Billy Cross, he was, needless to say, not acting. His presence and personality were strong enough to fill the role as himself.

The best thing about Mile's performance is the bits of wisdom he presented. Those pearls of musical "Zen" he gave to his protege who'd come so far and endured so much to receive from him. For example, when they were driving through Paris one night, Anderson said he had a demo tape of new music. Cross said "I don't want to hear it". Anderson asked why. He said "Because if I say I like it, you'll think I'm trying to be nice. If I say I don't like it, your feelings will be hurt. You don't need my opinions". In other words, an artist has to "know" the true worth and merit of his music. He doesn't need validation or opinions. All musicians must stand alone; like a fighter in the ring (Miles was an amatuer boxer). That's when you really know who you are - and you don't need anyone else's praise to prove it.

All is all, a good movie."