Fido (****)

(2006) dir. Andrew Currie – w/ Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly as a boy’s best friend, Dylan Baker as a man who has problems with zombies, K’Sun Ray as a zombie’s best friend, and others, in roles such as: Zombie Grandpa, Zombie Paperboy, Human Milkman, Dr. Hrothgar Geiger, and Poacher Driver (Zombie Poaching apparently being a lucrative career choice).

Synopsis: It’s the future, kind of, in an alternate sort of universe where it’s like the 1950s except for the part where space-dust has turned all the dead people into zombies, and a giant corporation has harnessed zombie power for the good of humanity. Also, you’re not allowed to have hand-guns till you’re 13 (until then, you have to make do with rifles–you think I’m kidding, but I’m not).

Review: Expecting to be mildly amused, I was warmly surprised by this movie. Morbidly heart-warming and coy, this is no great epic, but there are moments of surprising depth. It’s a stretch to apply the word “realistic”, probably, but there are scenes in which you realize that Fido (the titular zombie, played by Billy Connolly), despite being dead and all, is more human, and more compassionate, than some of the non-zombie characters. Performances all around are pretty swell–particularly Carrie-Anne Moss’s, which surprises particularly when compared to some of her better-known roles. All in all a comic, satisfying romp.

Rating: [••••] out of [•••••]