An uber flamboyant tech CEO hires a Black nursing home worker to front his company after a racist social media posting. Dotty & Soul delivers its power to the working class message via satirical fire hose in the blink of an eye. The film skewers unbridled capitalism, economic inequality, and bro business culture in ’80s throwback comedic style. It’s loaded with humorous zingers but lacks substantive exposition and character development with a meager script. Dotty & Soul clocks in at a preachy 88 minutes with credits. There’s just not enough meat on the bone here.
Ethan Cox (Adam Saunders), sporting a pink zebra-print suit and bedazzled cowboy boots, is on top of the world. Private Car, his automated driving company, is about to be acquired for a staggering 10-figure sum. He revels in adulation as the business world fawns. Bob Brannigan (David Koechner), a ruthless venture capitalist who funded Cox, shares the ecstatic riches glory. They swill champagne at a ritzy club as Cox parades the gorgeous Stef (Alexis Ren), his soon-to-be “trophy wife.” She gushes as he’s inundated with social media likes.
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A self-driving, classic Rolls-Royce Phantom takes Ethan to a vastly different location. His infirm mother (OvaJean Siemens) lives at the Creekside Retirement Home in Highland Park, Texas. Dotty Bolden (Leslie Uggams), sasses Ethan for arriving late. The snack cart vendor becomes even more irate waiting for her bus home. The stop has been removed as the city has shuttered public transportation for a Private Car contract.
A Puppet CEO
Quiver Distribution
Stef posts a video of Ethan as MC Hammer at a costume party. His parachute pants and gold chain is unfortunately accompanied by painted blackface. Ethan awakens the next morning to a firestorm of controversy. An irate Bob calls an emergency board meeting. Their deal with Rydze is about to crumble. They need something to appease the infuriated. He orders Ethan to hire a Black puppet CEO until the Private Car sale is complete.
Saunders pulls triple duty as writer, director, and star. He portrays Ethan as a poor Jewish kid whose housekeeper mother anglicized their name to give him a better chance at success. His goofy outfits, playboy lifestyle, and peacock strutting are a masquerade. He can barely afford to pay for his mother’s care. His billionaire dream was born of hard work and innovation but evolved to a fraudulent personality.
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Hollywood veteran Uggams slings wicked barbs as the feisty Dotty. Her keen business acumen as the token boss predictably helps Private Car. She’s struggled her entire life as an independent entrepreneur and can’t support taking away public transportation from poor people. Dotty’s social welfare business tactics diametrically opposes Bob’s ‘profit above all, screw the little man’ philosophy.
A Megaphone Statement
Dotty & Soul has heart and merit but pours the betterment batter thick. Saunders broadcasts his intentions like an afterschool special. His characters, who do get a few laughs, are thinly plotted and spend the entire film proselytizing for the cause. Saunders makes a megaphone statement without nuance.
Several forgettable subplots with a jerk landlord and Dotty’s daughter add nothing. Those scenes would have been better spent bolstering the primary storyline. Dotty & Soul needed a longer edit with more robust character interactions. The film is simply too short and obvious.
Dotty & Soul is a production of Footprint Features. It will have a VOD and digital release on May 19th from Quiver Distribution.
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