Scott Caan obviously poured a lot of passion into The Dog Problem. It has a solid cast of the best indie talents (Giovanni Ribisi, Don Cheadle, Kevin Corrigan), a catchy score from Mark Mothersbaugh, cute dialogue, and a hottie lead actress (Lynn Collins). For his trouble, Caan's film opened on two screens and grossed a whopping $914 over its opening weekend. And no, that's not a typo.

While it may have been a passionate indie, it's still an indie, and the difficulty in pinning The Dog Problem to any specific genre is probably what killed its box office fortunes. It's part black comedy, part sex comedy, part gangster flick, and of course part animal movie. Much like its nameless canine star, it's a mutt, and it takes a big investment on your part to love it.

The story centers on Solo (Ribisi), a failing writer who has become addicted to daily therapy sessions since his novel didn't sell. This habit has bankrupted him, and now he owes money to some shady characters (Corrigan), and his only friend Casper (Caan) is of little use. The shrink (Cheadle) offers a final word of advice: Get a pet.

Solo buys a dog at the mall but finds he has no taste for pets, but is conflicted when several people fall in love with it and offer to take it off his hands in exchange for killing off his debt. Sounds good, but he doesn't take it, which is I guess why Solo needs therapy. Throw in a subplot about a stripper (Collins) whose dog bites Solo's, and with whom Solo quickly falls in love, and you've got an odd little flick on your hands.

Caan makes the most of these little stories, and though they often don't fit together very well, each vignette is charming in its own way. The movie rests squarely on the shoulders of a neurotic Ribisi, looking ever so out of place in the blazing sun of LA dressed invariably in a sweater or a coat. Collins, however, steals the show as the hooker, er... stripper, with the heart of gold. Cliches don't come much richer than this, but Collins does a decent job with it, even when the script has the shy Lola shanghai Solo when he steps into her club, hold her hand over his eyes, and give him a quickie lap dance "on the house," for no apparent reason and not knowing he's the guy who owes her money.

Plot oddities aside, The Dog Problem is a fun movie that is aided immeasurably by enjoying the little touches and all but ignoring the big picture.

The DVD includes a commentary track from Caan and Ribisi.