Schoolteacher Amy (Melinda Page Hamilton) has a secret in her past, something she did with her pet dog when she was eighteen. It only happened once, it never happened again, and although she was ashamed of herself she also thought it was kind of funny. Move forward to when she was twenty-six and she was involved with her boyfriend, aspiring writer John (Bryce Johnson), to the extent that he asked her to marry him through the means of placing an ad in the free newspaper he delivered. She accepted, but later that night while in bed, John wanted to know one of Amy's secrets: dare she tell him?
Well, she doesn't at first, making up a story that she went to bed with her best friend while in college. Scripted by the director Bobcat Goldthwait, it's difficult to get a handle on Sleeping Dogs Lie's point at first as it's not obvious if it wants to be an outrageous comedy or a personal drama, and even by the end it's not one hundred percent clear. What it isn't about is bestiality, that's simply the plot point that sets events in motion, for as Goldthwait says if it had been about bestiality it might have done better at the box office. What the film is more concerned with is secrets and knowing when to keep them - although it might not seem so considering that introduction, this is all about tact.
Another theme is disappointing your parents, as Amy's close encounter with Fido becomes the elephant in the living room when Amy finally admits it to John. To add insult to injury, she makes the confession when visiting her parents with John who hopes to ask Amy's father (Geoffrey Pearson) for permission for her hand in marriage. Goldthwait is keen to make his characters, and possibly his audience too, as uncomfortable as possible, so after a long car journey John's pet dog does his business on Amy's uptight parents' doorstep, and John accidentally lets fly with an expletive. And that's before they even get inside, as when they do they find out that Amy's cranky brother (Jack Plotnick) has been made redundant so is now back living at home and filling his brain with meth fumes.
[Tartan's Region 2 DVD uses the shorter title Sleeping Dogs, and has a commentary with Goldthwait, an entertaining interview with him and Page, and the trailer as extras.]
