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You can see the potential, but the final result is like a typical TV sitcom. That is not a compliment.
Lindy Booth, Tara Spencer-Nairn and Kira Clavell star as the three women who work at the massage parlour. Since their boss wants more time on the golf course, he hires a new guy (Don McKellar), the shy Conrad, to keep an eye on the place. Conrad is charged with making sure that none of the women is involved in "full service" -- as having sex with clients constitutes the sort of activity that attracts the police and gets the business shut down.
Conrad takes his job seriously. This is not a good thing, and the three women do their best to get him on side. At first he is over-protective and paternalistic, but the women eventually show him who's boss.
Each of the women has her reasons for being there -- Kira Clavell plays an illegal immigrant trying to support her family far away. Tara Spencer-Nairn is a tough-minded business woman who takes good care of her portfolio. Lindy Booth is a sweet woman who just wants her boyfriend not to leave her. The women are a blonde, a brunette and a redhead, by the way. They swear and smoke ostentatiously, but you never really believe any one of them is a massage parlour employee. As for Don McKellar's performance, ditto.
None of the actors in the film was given enough to work with.
Rub & Tug shows the strength of the women and their control of the situation, then turns that notion upside down with some curious -- and meant to be comedic -- plot twists. It doesn't work.
There's nothing about Rub & Tug that's truly off-putting. It's just dull. Mostly, it is amateurish and visually flat.
The film is a debut feature from Soo Lyu, an award-winning filmmaker known for her short films.
(This film is rated AA)