Year of the Dog (2007)

Excellent but underrated film

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Very subtle comedy. But it angered lots of viewers, which makes it even more special. Produced by Brad Pitt, but dont expect an action picture or something. I just got to know of this movie because Brad Pitt has got a real good knack for producing quality movies. But this comedy is only suited for those who understand subtle tongue in cheek jokes. Lots of viewers thought of it as boring because they didnt understand the tongue in cheek humor of the behaviour by the characters. Lots of others got angry because there are a lot of politically uncorrect characters in this story which ofcourse will upset the masses who expected to see a nice, clean cut comedy. It isnt. It deceives you and then it hits you, gently though...The director and writer of this movie, Mike White, has also made the legendary and hilarious movie called "Office Space", also about neat and clean office workers, who eventually go wild. Come to think of it most of Mike White's movies are about office workers or other boring characters that suddenly get entangled in the wildest action plots. Really hilarious stuff, but again only suited for those who get the subtle tongue in cheek jokes, the masses probably will find it somewhat boring or be really offended if they let their kids watch it...The strength of this movie is its subtle story, in which we start with a clean and neat office worker lady, who is as law abiding and decent as one can be. But the more this nice lady becomes aware of what kind pf cruelties are committed to animals in the meat industry the more she starts revolting. And because of this ever climaxing anger by this previously law abiding lady her actions become ever more dangerous and violent. But in a hilarious and innocent way. Very tongue in cheek. Suited for the whole family, everyone could like it, especially if you are an animal lover. But not suited for the politically correct masses...

molly's alright with me, a great actress. movie is a fairly successful attempt at "black comedy", a serious but loopy look at dog worship...and obsessiveness in general.many opportunities to make this a 9er or 10er, but no, golden opportunities swoop in and...out. molly's next door neighbor is a taxidermist who gets up the nerve to ask out his cute neighbor, molly (who has lost her pet!). not gonna give the whole thing away, but does the Director "connect" her paranoia and his unusual hobby? (you'll find out). and why does the Director let molly become a Hitchcock character when just a very *neurotic but nice person* sells the character and story? if you love molly, buy the DVD now.

"Year of the Dog" is a quirky yet poignant comedy. It's not memorable for its laugh-out-loud moments (the few there are), but more for Molly Shannon's terrific and seemingly effortless performance as a woman who has spent her whole life trying to please everyone around her. It's when she finds a cause she believes in that she gradually learns that it's impossible to please herself and everyone else.Shannon is Peggy, a single, milquetoast, unassuming office worker who lives a quiet existence with her dog. You see from the beginning of the film that she has acquaintances, not friends. The camera shows people talking to her in the direct center of the shot, and therefore her eyesight. When the camera cuts back to Peggy, you normally see her just politely smiling and nodding, not responding.Peggy does not seem to mind this style of living. It's only when her dog dies of apparent ingestion of rat poisoning that her life spins out of control.You see Shannon crying a lot during these scenes, and she's very believable. Any person who has ever had a dog for a pet can understand how heartbreaking it is to move on from such a tragedy.From there, the story progresses well as Peggy finds herself going on a date with slovenly next door neighbor Al (John C. Reilly), only to find an open bag of rat poison in his garage that look like a dog went through it. She then gets to know Newt (Peter Sarsgaard), an animal shelter worker who keeps three misfit dogs at his home because he didn't want them to be put down. One of those dogs, by the way, rendered a smaller dog paralyzed. He, however, just doesn't want to see another dog die.Peggy apparently agrees, and begins a self-administered quest to live a vegan life. She brings vegan cupcakes into her office, has fellow workers sign petitions to ban lab testing, and even adopts every dog that is to be put down at her local pound.This film tells very little, and shows a lot, which gives it a lot of depth. The camera shots that represents Peggy's vantage points work amazingly well, considering how simple they really are. When Peggy, while at Newt's house, silently ponders photographs of Newt, one where he is with a woman, and one where he is with a man, no words really need to express what she is thinking. After all, the audience wonders the same thing.You also really feel for Shannon as her well-meaning acquaintances (Laura Dern, Regina King) gradually react to her newfound poli-social stance as if she's on drugs. You also understand the feelings of those who are not quite as sympathetic, such as her boss Robin (Josh Pais).In fact, Pais plays this role with a permanent sneer on his face, as if he's smelling something awful throughout the entire movie. He's one of those actors whose name is not well known, but you've seen him in other things. Still, after seeing this film, you will not be able to get his facial expression out of your memory.The extremes to which Shannon's character goes to protect as many animals as possible are just that: extreme. You can't help but feel for her as she tries to do as many right things as she can, only to find her life falling apart around her. The tragic irony surrounding this film is that she's not an alcoholic or a drug addict, but suffers similar consequences as a result of adopting too many dogs at one point.Of course, you don't blame her for wanting to save those dogs. After all, I'm a dog lover, and I hate to think about dogs dying simply because no one has adopted them. Then again, one dog is a responsibility, and the pet population, as you've probably heard Bob Barker say, needs to be controlled.The film does well balancing the empathetic with the slightly insane, as screenwriter Mike White tends to do with his more independent films ("Chuck and Buck" (2000), "The Good Girl" (2002)). White makes his feature directorial debut with this movie, and provides a great story with images that tell more than most CGI special effects. Even if you don't like dogs, you can't put this film down.

This is the story of an unhappy woman, her inability to find love or fulfillment in the world and her descent into being one of those crazy animal hoarders you see on the news. Oh, and did I mention it's a light hearted comedy?Peggy Slade (Molly Shannon) is the unhappy woman. She doesn't have a boyfriend and hasn't had one for a long time. At work, she's the assistant to a boss (Josh Pais) who is perpetually paranoid about his standing in office politics and talks to Peggy more like a therapist than an employee. She sees her friend Layla (Regina King) working hard to domesticate her immature boyfriend and get him to propose. When Peggy goes to visit her brother and sister-in-law (Tom McCarthy and Laura Dern), she's regaled with the horror stories of being the parents of two young children.There may have been a point when Peggy was living her life, but now she's just observing hers and everyone else's. She does have a little dog named Pencil that she pours all of her love into and while even that doesn't really make her happy, Peggy seems to have come to terms with what her life is. But then Pencil gets into the neighbor's yard, eats something poisonous, dies and Peggy loses her way. She reaches out again and again to find something that can recreate the unexamined stasis she and Pencil had forged in her unhappy life. First, it's her next door neighbor (John C. Reily), then it's the cute but romantically sterile guy who works for the SPCA (Peter Sarsgaard), then it's an abused dog named Valentine she tries to help, then it's the cause of animal rights before finally, desperately adopting 15 dogs from the pound to keep them from being put to sleep. All the while, Peggy becomes more and more unraveled, emotionally and physically, until she sinks into psychotically violent anger.As I mentioned, this is a comedy, even though the story as described sounds more tragic than humorous. There is a lot of funny stuff in Year of the Dog and it's a tender sort of humor. The film doesn't mock or belittle Peggy and the other characters. Well, it does poke a little fun at Peggy's next door neighbor because he's a hunter and at the mundane parental obsessions of her brother and sister-in-law, but those characters are also presented as the most emotionally healthy and well-adjusted people in the movie. The story's damaged and dysfunctional characters are treated with a gentle respect. We're able to laugh with those characters without them becoming the butt of the joke.Molly Shannon does a fine job as Peggy, giving a much subtler performance than you would expect given the rest of her comedy work. Shannon keeps an undercurrent of sadness constantly bubbling in everything Peggy does or says, without reducing her to pitiful, laughable wreck. Peter Sarsgaard gives a very well-measured performance as a man who seems more socially capable and functional than Peggy on the surface but who is deep down even more emotionally broken than she is. Josh Pais is also very good as Peggy's boss. He's the most overtly comedic character in the story but Pais never lets him become a caricature.The direction in this film is a bit odd. For most dialog scenes between two characters, the movie cuts back and forth between the characters talking directly into the camera instead of showing them talking to each other. It's a technique that's both intimate and somewhat alienating. You feel as though the characters are talking directly to you, the viewer. Yet, that makes it difficult to connect what's being said by one character with the effect those words are having on the other character. It brings you more into the story and takes you more out of it at the same time.Year of the Dog is a movie that's sad without being sappy and funny without being mean. Its ending is an almost total cop out that doesn't realistically deal with any of the themes and issues raised throughout the story, but it's very enjoyable up to that. If you're a dog lover and you're looking for a dog movie that isn't a children's story or a romantic comedy, this is the film for you.