Rub & Tug

REVIEW
The title Rub and Tug is massage parlor parlance, for a rub (e.g., full body massage, which is OK) and a tug (e.g., “full service,” or sex, which is illegal.) This hip, stylish and witty Canadian independent film makes the most of its unusual setting as three women try to turn their work to their advantage. When Conrad (indie favorite Don McKellar) shows up to manage the massage parlor, the simple task of monitoring the girls’ actions—so they don’t perform sex—becomes a power struggle in which Conrad himself gets rubbed and tugged. Cindy (Kira Clavell) is an illegal immigrant who asks the naïve manager to marry her so she can stay in the country; Lea (Lindy Booth) has boyfriend trouble and a nipple fetish; and Betty (Tara Spencer-Nairn) hopes to seize control, make some real money, and open her own parlor. As a series of men come and go (and take off their clothes), it is never clear just who is in charge, or who will come out on top. Director Soo Lyu sets Rub and Tug almost entirely in the massage parlor and she imbues the film with both candor and humor. The result is an eye-opening and entertaining look at what takes place between consenting adults behind closed doors.

-- Gary Kramer