Rub & Tug (2002)

Rub & Tug is a sexy comedy that takes place at a "full body" massage parlour.

Director:

Soo Lyu

Writers:

Soo Lyu (original screenplay), Edward Stanulis (original screenplay)

Stars:

Don McKellar, Kira Clavell, Tara Spencer-Nairn

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don McKellar	...	Conrad
Kira Clavell	...	Cindy
Tara Spencer-Nairn	...	Betty
Lindy Booth	...	Lea
Richard Zeppieri	...	Lawrence
Michael Cram	...	Justin
Anthony Lemke	...	Henry
Susanne Sutchy	...	April
Pascal Petardi	...	Bob
Angelo Tsarouchas	...	Larry
Michael Carley	...	Mike
Lok Archer	...	Mr. Wong
Craig Warnock	...	Kevin
Paul Tedeschini	...	Line up client
Noah Cappe	...	Teenager client

Storyline

Wanting more free time for himself, Lawrence, the owner of a full body massage parlor, hires a new manager for the store. The person he hires for the job is Conrad, a seemingly nice but feckless man. Conrad's main responsibility as manager is to ensure that the three masseuses working there are not doing full service jobs, i.e. having sex with the clients, otherwise the police could shut the store down. Lawrence is sure the three are performing full service jobs so that they can make more money. Those three are cynical and acerbic tongued Betty who has a longer term financial plan for her life beyond her current work, nipple fetishist Lea who is hiding her profession from her boyfriend Henry, and Asian Cindy, a naive woman who is working in Canada illegally. Cindy is hoping to find a Canadian husband - even one in a marriage of convenience - so that she can stay in Canada and make a decent living to support her family back home. Conrad's relationship with the three women, especially ...

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Plot Keywords:

full service | massage parlor | false accusation | nudity | male victim | 

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Taglines:

It's a business doing pleasure for you.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 November 2002 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Les masseuses

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Willow Pictures Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Meet"
Written by Francois Paterson and Dominic Paterson
Performed by Soma Sonic

User Reviews

Rubbed the right way

By Greg Ursic

Everyone, whether they want to or not, remembers their first job: trying to figure out what to wear to the interview, being worried that you'd do the wrong thing or that someone would find out that you really had no clue as to what you were doing. Now imagine your stress level if you happen to be a bookworm, with limited social skills and your first job involves managing sex trade workers.

For Conrad - professional student and recent university grad - having a job has, up until recently, been a novel concept. Determined to learn all he can he decides that a great place to learn about business and develop his people skills is to manage a massage parlour. After all, how difficult could it be? All he has to do is answer the door, treat the customers nicely, and ensure that the women follow the rules. Unfortunately for Conrad, the women have other ideas, and in the battle between book smarts and street smarts, there are bound to be some nasty casualties.

Before I proceed, there's a dirty little secret that has to be revealed - this is a Canadian film. But put your fears to rest, this isn't some esoteric experimental bouncing handy cam feature that can only be understood by fine arts post docs. The title alone should be enough to pique people's interest and dispel anyone's notions of a stodgy boring film: the name refers to the service provided at the full-body massage parlours, or as it's known in the trade a "massage with a happy ending" (in this case a hand job).

Don McKellar, Canada's hardest-working actor, is brilliant as Conrad, deftly capturing the character's blunt shell-shocked naiveté both in speech and actions. Conrad is so clearly out of his element that it is painful to watch as he stumbles from one situation to the next, clearly unaware of what he's supposed to be doing. One of the film's funniest moments is a take on DeNiro's classic "You talking to me?" tough guy scene. McKellar (for whom the role was literally written) also manages to make Conrad's gradual transformation believable. The supporting cast also does a terrific job.

Tara Spencer-Nairn is commanding (think dominatrix) as Betty the brassy business savvy street-smart leader of the group. While we get to see her tough exterior (figuratively speaking), Betty's soft and silly sides also peek out. Lindy Booth's Lea defines quirky as the happy-go-lucky member of the group whose interest in the business is driven more by her desire to feel a "skinship" with the patrons rather than cash. And how can you not love a girl with a nipple fetish? The last member of the group is Cindy, the newcomer played with a fresh wide-eyed innocence by Kira Clavell. Rounding out the players is the collection of customers who infuse the film with ribald humor.

The interactions between the characters feel natural which is essential, given the comedic nature of the film - if the situations seem forced, they won't achieve the desired effect. Soo Lyu, the film's writer/director, achieved this through a well-written script and by allowing the actors leeway to improvise both on and off camera.

As most of the action happens indoors, you would be hard pressed to guess that this film was made on a limited budget: the production values are solid, the editing is tight, and the story is evenly paced. Add a lively soundtrack (with a touch of porno chic), punchy writing that flows well, interesting subject matter with a side of voyeurism, and you have the ingredients for a thoroughly enjoyable film.