Dot: A Review

A few months ago, I received an email from a guy I’d never heard of named Simeon Schnapper. At first glance, it looked like spam, but since my spam filter hadn’t caught it, I gave it a read. The email consisted of several reviews for a movie called Dot, and at the end Mr. Schnapper asked if he could send me a free DVD. Not being one to turn down free stuff, I responded with what amounted to, “hell yes.”

Several weeks later the DVD arrived, and by that time I had forgotten all about the email. I couldn’t figure out why someone had sent me a DVD in the mail, but whatever. I tossed it on my “to watch later” pile and forgot about it again.

In March, Mr. Schnapper emailed me again and asked if I’d received the DVD, and I suddenly remembered that he was the one who had sent it to me. It also occurred to me that he probably wanted me to review it. This caused a severe internal conflict because—if you haven’t noticed already—when someone wants me to do something, the last thing I want to do is whatever they want me to do. So I responded and said that yes, I had received the DVD, and thank you very much. I was going to force this punk to beg me for a review.

Another month or so went by, and I eventually got an email back from Mr. Schnapper asking what I had thought of the movie. At this point I realized he had me backed into a corner. I hadn’t watched the movie, because he had obviously wanted me to, yet I had to answer his question, and I didn’t want to be dishonest. So, realizing I’d been beaten, I finally watched the movie.

It was brilliant. I suddenly felt like a dick. Not only did Simeon Schnapper co-write and co-direct the movie, he also played the main character and turned in an incredible performance, along with the rest of the cast. The poor guy had been nice enough to send me a free DVD under the mistaken belief that people read my website. He finally asked me to write a review, but not before I had told him I liked the movie. Sneaky.

So anyway, here’s my review. Dot is the funniest, most dead-on satire on the dot com boom I have ever seen. There have been a lot of lame attempts at satirizing this industry, but Dot is the only one that really hits home. It was shot in an improvisational, mockumentary style, so the obvious comparison is This is Spinal Tap. I think I may have laughed harder at Dot, though, if only because the topic was so close to my own experiences. The one thing that stands out most about this movie is the acting. It’s phenomenal. This is no Clerks, that’s for sure.

To sum up: Dot is good. I give it two thumbs up. You can buy it and get more info at the Sneaky Kings website. These guys deserve your money.