i be afraid this one be pretty dreadful and despite several good performance and generally competent act for the camera direction . it a first and last attempt by writer director soo lyu . rub and tug ( 2002 ) be one of the unfortunate by product of canada program to promote home grown film making . while the program encourage worthwhile effort like new waterford girl it open the door for untalented novice like lyu who do not have to aggressively pitch this project but be green light without an adequate examination of her script or her credential . you do not mind the low budget because the shabby production design and bad lighting and poor audio and and dreary docu style shot selection be consistent with the subject matter while the worker in canadian massage parlor . but the dialogue and the plot doesn not give the actor anything to work with and the editor much to assemble and or a viewer any mental challenge other than suspension of disbelief . when your story be this simplistic the last thing you need be a muddled storytelling technique while even though nothing happens and the movie be hard to follow and point of view impossible to pin down . don mckellar performance a conrad be several notch below his similar characterization in exotica . lindy booth lea be her standard quirky airhead while a always she be likable but here she be little else . kira clavell cindy be a pleasant surprise and a kind of asian shelley duval . the only other role of any consequence and tara spencer nairn street wise betty and more than cancel out her excellent performance in new waterford girl . her shallow performance in rub and tug should curtail any tendency to seek out other film in which she have appear while unless you need further confirmation of waterford director alan moyle skill in work with young actor . you quickly conclude that lyu reptilian brain can not grasp concept like plot complexity and so the need to insert a lazy and lame deus ex machina device toward the end be hardly a surprise . still it could be bad and the listless story have so little internal logic anyway that the unlikely end be not as painful a would normally be the case . then again and what do i know . i be only a child .