Bridge Films

The Dogwalker (1999)

The thing about this film is that the Bridge players are so unusual. It's played from the viewpoint of Jerry who is not a nice person but is a charmer nevertheless. He is "between homes" and sleeping in his car until he literally bumps into an old lady Alma and her dog Lucky.

Jerry gets the job of walking Lucky and caring for Alma which seems like a good break to begin with. But things get a little dangerous when he has to deal with the amorous intentions of not only Alma's married daughter Helene but her under-age teenage daughter Susan as well.

He also has problems with the involvement of his three bad friends K.C., Mones, and Dexter (a.k.a. the Blonde Guy or the kid), who like him, are drug-users and drop-outs.

The two Bridge scenes come as a surprise. The first one (lasting 3 minutes, starting 36 minutes into the film) defuses the tension when Jerry and his friends intend to rob Alma one night but are surprised to find that she is not alone. They are greeted at the door by a senior citizen, Sam, who, after they decide to call the robbery off, says:

SAM: Please you'll still come upstairs won't you? I mean we'll start a new rubber

Then, when they enter the room, they see the other elderly guests Ike and Abe sitting at a card table with Alma. This dialogue takes place:

SAM: I asked them upstairs so we could have another foursome

K.C. (startled): a foursome of what?

ABE: Bridge

SAM: Bridge. You do play Bridge don't you?

ALMA: Of course they don't play Bridge. What did you expect?

IKE: Bridge is a dying game. We're the last of a dying breed

SAM: Too bad. I thought we could have a nice game of duplicate

ALMA: Duplicate! Whatever made you think they know how to play Bridge in the first place? Sit down and let the boys go about their business. It's your deal

MONES: Well actually I used to play a bit of Bridge when I was in the Army

JERRY (narrates): And with that we were trapped as sure as if we'd been caught stealing from the old lady ... the kid and I even managed to win a rubber off the old folks - with the help of a little kibitzing.

The second Bridge scene (lasting 4 minutes, starting 1 hour 36 minutes into the film) takes place after Alma has died and has left everything to Lucky. As Jerry got to get Lucky he assumes he gets the house. Susan is partnering Jerry against K.C. and Dexter. By this time Dexter and Susan are together. The bidding goes:

JERRY: K.C. - your bid

K.C. (looks troubled): I'm thinking, I'm thinking

SUSAN (licking a lollipop): Well we don't have all day

K.C.: All right, 1 Heart

JERRY: No. You can't say 1 Heart, you just said 2 Spades

K.C.: All right then. Damn. Two Hearts

DEXTER (grinning): You can't say 2 Hearts either. Spades are higher than Hearts.

K.C.: All right, all right. Sheet. Pass

DEXTER (points at K.C.): You're the dummy

K.C.: I know that all right. You don't have to tell me.

There is some dialogue where Jerry realises that he has been out-manoeuvred by Susan and he is not going to inherit Alma's house after all. Then a new game is started:

K.C.: It's my bid, right? 1 Spade

SUSAN: 2 Clubs

DEXTER: 2 Hearts

SUSAN (after a pause): Jerry?

JERRY: Pass

K.C.: 2 Spades

SUSAN: 3 Clubs

DEXTER: Pass

SUSAN (after a pause): Jerry?

JERRY: Pass

K.C.: Sheet. Pass

SUSAN: Looks like you're the dummy now, Jerry

JERRY: Yes. Looks like it

The scene wraps up the film quite nicely.

Summary

Bridge relevance
This is a film with a surprisingly high Bridge content - the writer obviously wanted to show off his knowledge of how to play the game, hence the 'Spades are higher than Hearts' comment. Bridge is key to the film for delivering the message of who has lost out, as it done through the wordplay on 'dummy' that is used on three separate occasions. These are to Sam from K.C. when they first meet (as Sam is about to be robbed), then to K.C. from Dexter (because Dexter has won the girl), and to Jerry at the end (because he has lost the house of course).