As a musician myself, I recognised the truth and accuracy of this great film by Alan Plater. It is very British , but definitely non the worse for that. The cast give it a light touch , and the result echoes the always present surreal quality of life as a musician, and the sometimes futile search for the holy Grail of that perfect next gig. Plater is one of the great English playwrights , and Elliot Gould and Geraldine James make the most of some wonderfully witty dialogue, with a wistful love story for bonus. The sheer stupidity that musicians are often faced with is a deep well for comedy , and Doggin Around is very funny indeed. I read one review that called it amateurish - which misses the point entirely . A slick , polished ( so-called ) American style production would not make any of the points this film does so successfully. The film portrays a great musician toiling away in obscurity ( eg Jelly Roll Morton in his final years ) and we know how he feels trying to create quality and beauty where only shallowness and glitz are the order of the day. Long live independent film-making !