Year of the Dog

Most Americans have at one point in their lives experienced love for a dog or a cat. This movie captures that feeling and yet it shows what can happen when a person lets this love become all consuming and it does a great job. This is my personal favorite movie of 2007.

The characters that make up the movie are caricatures but yet they represent something real in all of us and and the themes in the movie accurately capture many issues that Americans face in contemporary society. What I like best is that "dog haters", if such people exist, will find much to enjoy in the movie as well. This is because the dark side of animal love is given equal time and thought as is given to the beauty of giving your heart and soul fully to the love of animals. Moreover, the main character is as easy to laugh at as to cry with.

This isn't some silly comedy like most of the other movies with dog in the title which are all in my opinion dogs. This is a black comedy with penetrating insights into issues that have a lot of proponents on opposite sides of a long spectrum. If you like to see a movie where you can check your brain in at the ticket booth then this one is probably not for you. If you like to be enlightened as well as entertained, check this out because in addition to giving the viewer a well thought out look at canine animals, this film is a brilliant portrayal of the psychology of the human animal as well.

I'm a sucker for movies about people and their pets. This film stars former SNL player Molly Shannon as a secretary whose personal life revolves around her beagle, Pencil. When he passes away unexpectedly, she has to find another reason to go on. The film first hints that she'll discover the world of humans around her, particularly men, as two new ones (John C. Reilly & Peter Saarsgard) enter her life. But it smartly steers away from the obvious and veers into a more original voyage of self-discovery. My only real problem with the film is that a lot of the supporting characters are a little too caricature-esquire (notably Shannon's boss, played by Josh Pais), but writer/director White does a good job of redeeming them for the most part. A very touching, gentle film that's well worth your time.

It's a woefully uneven film that seems longer than its 97 minutes, yet Molly Shannon brings her particularly individualistic appeal to the role of Peggy, a diffident, socially awkward secretary whose most meaningful relationship is with her beagle Pencil. The attraction is understandable as the dog is adorable and attentive, whereas the people in Peggy's life are too self-absorbed to get past judgment of her solitary existence. As he showed with his script for 2002's The Good Girl, screenwriter and first-time director Mike White has a unique way of presenting characters' idiosyncrasies on screen that seems both bemused and generous. He brings Peggy's quiet desperation and passive acceptance to life with extended shots that seem almost taken from still-life photos. The inevitable occurs, and Peggy's feeling of culpability spirals her into despair groping for what she should do next.

Most of the 2007 film deals with her tentative journey, and while much of the film is driven by character-driven laughs, there is a deepening sense of melancholy with every episode. Toward the final stretch, White unfortunately carries things too far and has Peggy go into extremities before finding her destiny, and her behavior at this point threatens to upend the goodwill generated by what happened before. Regardless, he has assembled quite an impressive cast to inhabit his somewhat askew characters starting with Shannon who manages to convey Peggy's loneliness with surprising subtlety. Consider that this otherwise slapstick comic actress has made her reputation on slapstick, spastic characters like Mary Katherine in Superstar or Val, the obsessive, kleptomaniac neighbor in several episodes of Will & Grace. Instead, her low-key portrayal comes close to Jennifer Aniston's exemplary work in The Good Girl.

Returning from that movie in typical hangdog fashion, John C. Reilly plays Peggy's lunk-headed neighbor who admits to killing his own dog in a hunting accident, a revelation that exposes his fascination with guns and dead animal heads. Regina King is her sassy self though oddly encouraged to play over-the-top as Peggy's sassy office co-worker Layla, whose own relationship with a philanderer unmasks as much desperation as Peggy's situation. Laura Dern is flat-out hilarious as Peggy's sister-in-law Bret, a well-meaning control freak married to overly cautious Pier played by Thomas McCarthy. There's also a funny turn by Josh Pais as Peggy's Dilbert-inspired boss, and Peter Sarsgaard takes a lighter but still bizarre turn than usual as Newt, the passively manipulative, sexually confused dog trainer who really sets off Peggy's darker side.

The 2007 DVD comes with quite a few extras starting with the amusing, off-kilter commentary by White and Shannon. Their chemistry continues in a seven-minute "Moviefone Unscripted with Molly Shannon and Mike White", where the two ask each other questions from Moviefone users. There is the obligatory making-of featurette, the sixteen-minute "A Special Breed of Comedy: The Making of Year of the Dog". Those were satisfying enough, but there are also three additional shorts of only marginal interest - one focusing on the training of the dogs used in the film and the other two brief, four-minute profiles of Shannon and White. One extended and seven deleted scenes are included as well as a three-minute gag reel and a quick photo album of unique images presented as an insert reel.

This was probably not a good movie for me to watch. I have had to put two dogs down and one just died on me. If you are out digging a grave at 5.am., bawling your eyes out, then you know what someone goes through when they lose a pet.

So, I could empathize with Peggy (Molly Shannon) and see how she could be easily swayed by Newt (Peter Sarsgaard). She was vulnerable and was easily pushed over the deep end.

It is unrealistic to think that friends, family, and co-workers will be so understanding. That only happens in the movies.

But, it was nice to see her follow her passion. That was the plus of the movie that focused just a bit too much on animal abuse.

"Year of the Dog" is by no means a Hollywood movie. No "perfect" characters here. No "perfect" story. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Hollywood movie. By all means, bring on the popcorn! We do, indeed, need that sort of entertainment in this day and age. I truly love it!

I'm just saying that this film is another breed altogether. "Year of the Dog" deals with situations, realities, and characters one might actually encounter in real life.

This film is brilliant in that it doesn't take sides. An animal lover (like myself) can watch it, and feel fulfilled and amused. A non-animal-lover (unlike myself) can likewise watch it, and feel fulfilled and amused.

Quite a tightrope writer/director Mr. White has created for himself. . .and completely succeeded at traversing. Bravo sir!

It's ultimately a story about how different sorts of people find a way of dealing with the painful events in their lives.

The actors are all on top form (particularly Regina King, Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, Josh Pais, and Peter Saarsgard--not to mention all the beautiful animals).

One could view this story as an exploration of "Dysfunction in modern America". Or, one could view this story as an exploration of "How to deal with dysfunction in modern America".

Take your pick...