Lawn Dogs (1997)

Synopsis: Mischa Barton makes a sparkling screen debut in this fresh and lively urban fairy tale. Barton plays Devon, a new transplant, along with her uptight parents, to the even more uptight suburbian utopia of Camelot Gardens, a closed-in, upper-class neighborhood that might be anywhere in... Mischa Barton makes a sparkling screen debut in this fresh and lively urban fairy tale. Barton plays Devon, a new transplant, along with her uptight parents, to the even more uptight suburbian utopia of Camelot Gardens, a closed-in, upper-class neighborhood that might be anywhere in America. The highly imaginative ten-year-old has no friends, and instead lives through her fantasies. Yet, when she travels outside the walls of the Gardens and ends up at the trailer of Trent Burns (Sam Rockwell), a poor eccentric who mows her family's lawn, a friendship blossoms. When tragedy strikes the dog of a local bully, their secret relationship is made public and the community explodes. Rockwell gives a thoroughly funny, engaging performance as the outcast Trent, and makes his bond with the younger Devon seem honest, heartfelt, and beautiful. LAWN DOGS is a thoughtful and heartwarming tale of a friendship that defies the rules of class or age. [More]