Movie
review: Year of the Dog
Rating:
Director: Mike White-directorial debut
Screenplay: Mike White (Nacho Libre, The School of Rock)
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Rated: PG-13 for suggestive references.
Running Time: 97 minutes
Opening Gross: $103, 223 (limited release-7 theaters)
Cast: Molly Shannon (SNL, Superstar), John C. Reilly (Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Chicago), Laura Dern (I am
Sam, Jurassic Park), Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead, Garden State)
Plot: After Peggy loses her beloved dog, Pencil, she goes
bonkers.
We all know a woman like Year of the Dog's Peggy-the woman
with a smile permanently plastered on her face.
She's either on the verge of "being saved" or a "mental breakdown."
In the case of Peggy, it's the latter.
Peggy, played surprisingly gently by Molly Shannon, is a smiling
doormat. She's a good office worker, a good friend, a good aunt and
a good listener. She doesn't do a lot of talking. Her dog, Pencil is
the only one who'd listen anyway. After all, what does Peggy have to
talk about? She has no boyfriend, no children-only Pencil.
When Pencil dies of toxic poisoning, her controlled, solo life falls
apart. It starts slowly at first-she becomes a vegan and adopts a
German Sheppard with behavioral disorders, but it quickly escalates
when she falls for an androgynous fellow dog lover (Peter Sarsgaard)
and he rejects her advances. Peggy can't keep up the facade anymore.
She goes crazy-and not just a little crazy...super duper crazy. So
crazy you may find yourself shifting uncomfortably in your seat. I
actually covered my eyes at parts-as if I were watching a horror
movie-I just couldn't bear to see what Peggy in all of her craziness
would do next.
Shannon is perfect as Peggy-as perfect as Jack Black in The
School of Rock as Dewey. It's as if write/director Mike White
had her in mind when he wrote the screenplay. She goes from sad sac
to whack job quite subtly and convincingly in an hour and a half.
Shannon shines-but the rest of the cast...not so much. Although Regina
King who plays Peggy's drama queen co-worker, offers some comic
relief, the rest of the cast is underused and shoved to the
background.
Year of the Dog is Mike White's (of Nacho Libre and
The School of Rock fame) directorial debut and in the end left
me empty and unsatisfied. It was difficult to sit through. At least
three people in the theater-got up and left mid film. However, if
you ever pondered the inner workings of an extreme animal rights
activist-this is the movie for you!
