Word: plot
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...predecessors. Many jokes are funny for the uninitiated even as they take on added resonance for those who have followed Riggs and Murtaugh through the years, and no jokes exclude those who are not die-hard fans. Old characters and running gags are neatly integrated into a compelling plot. The movie could easily stand on its own, without support from the Lethal Weapon name...
...among us, in our childhoods, didn't see some kid selling lemonade on a corner and plot to steal a piece of the action with a better drink, a nicer stand, a smarter gimmick...
...novel could have been a much better first effort had it not relied so heavily upon ethnic, particularly Irish and Italian, stereotypes, homophobic jokes, scatological humor and ridiculous portrayals of Mafia types in Boston's North End. Had Lyons focused more on developing real characters and a stimulating plot, Dog Days might actually be a worthwhile read. As it stands, unfortunately, it barely qualifies as beach-reading material, because it's too boring, too violent and too lacking in romance for a truly pro beach reader to be caught dead with...
...only is the plot of Dog Days a total cliche--it ends sappily ever after when Reilly, the yuppie boy, realizes love can somehow outweigh money--the characters are stereotyped to the point of offending. Throughout the novel, all the Italians living in Reilly's North End neighborhood are either connected with the Mafia or are vulgar and stupid thugs, while the Boston Irish are crude drunks (including Reilly's mother!). The women are beautiful yet emotionally damaged by problematic relationships with their fathers. Even Reilly's supposed best friend and roommate cannot escape the ethnic pigeonholing, as he hails...
...cookie-cutter characters, Dog Days is not without some positive aspects. Lyons possesses a breezy and enjoyable style, although it is not particularly complex or challenging. Again, maybe the one-sidedness of the characters stems more from the lack of any sort of complication in the plot or of the novel as a whole. Lyons has not made much of an effort to broaden or expand his characters--each is as constant and predictable as the weather in a coolly air-conditioned room...