Year of the Dog

Name: Year of the Dog
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: April 13, 2007
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 70
Cast: John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard

2007

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Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Ratings

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Ratings

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Year Of The Dog

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Vantage | Release Date: April 13, 2007 | PG-13

Starring: John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard

Summary: When Peggy (Shannon) loses her best friend, a Beagle named Pencil, she emerges from her loss with a new found sense of her place in the world and what it takes to make her happy. (Paramount Vantage)

Director: Mike White

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 97 min

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Critic Reviews

Lisa Schwarzbaum

I mean no impertinence when I say that as a portrait of love and grief, writer-director Mike White's exceptional film Year of the Dog deserves the same admiration accorded Joan Didion's exceptional memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking." Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

It may sound as if first-time director White is having his fun at the expense of introverted, asocial people who prefer the company of cats and dogs and gravitate toward animal-rights activism because the very idea of dealing with human problems requires an empathy they can't muster. But empathy is exactly what makes the film work. Read full review

Claudia Puig

An engaging tragicomedy, exploring the consequences of single-minded fervor in a humorous and humane fashion. Read full review

J.R. Jones

Despite the gimmicky direction and a disappointing climax, this is a distinctive and unsettling comedy. Read full review

John Anderson

A satisfying and funny, if ironic, comedy intended for lovers of both the beast and/or sophisticated laughs. Read full review

Kevin Crust

With pathos competing equally against the often pungent laughs for the audience's attention, it's a movie that is both unsettling and amusing, most comparable to "Chuck & Buck" in tone. Read full review

Peter Debruge

In Year of the Dog, director Mike White willfully violates one of the great unwritten rules of Hollywood screenwriting: Kill as many human characters as you want, just spare the dog. Read full review

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User Reviews

AaronL.

May 6, 2007

Thought provoking; not afraid to intermix issues; real; and very enjoyable, cute and fun. This was a great movie.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

ChadS.

May 6, 2007

And finally, when "Year of the Dog" is on the verge of caricaturizing vegans as hopeless neurotics, the filmmaker dramatizes a sort of disclaimer about animal-rights activists not all being maladjusted loner types like Peggy(Molly Shannon), as we can also see "normal" people on that same And finally, when "Year of the Dog" is on the verge of caricaturizing vegans as hopeless neurotics, the filmmaker dramatizes a sort of disclaimer about animal-rights activists not all being maladjusted loner types like Peggy(Molly Shannon), as we can also see "normal" people on that same bus(en route to a rally), in a closing scene similar to the one in Todd Solondz's "Welcome to the Dollhouse". Peggy isn't alienated to the extent that Dawn Wiener was in the Solondz film, but this could all change, since her vegetarianism is now formally politicized by her forthcoming participation in a public demonstration. Peggy's newfound moral impetus of non-conformity with the social norms(she once aspired towards) will aggravate her social retardation to a degree that platonic relationships(like the benign, but functional interactions she enjoys with her office co-workers), not only potential romantic ones, will elude her as well. When Newt(Peter Saarsgard) indoctrinates Peggy into veganism, he is taking away one of the last vestiges of common ground she shares with ordinary people(which is a natural love for junk food; their reaction to the soy cupcakes is an indicator of Peggy's future). "Year of the Dog" should've gone in a direction more organic to its "Wait Until Dark"-like scene of near-violence, but this barbed comedy is still a pretty grim affair, made all the more sadder by Peggy's heart-on-a-sleeve optimism.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

MarkB.

May 8, 2007

With all due respect to Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and Benji, the greatest movie canine of all time could hardly be anyone other than Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Consider: millions and millions of moviegoers, both committed and casual, recognize him by name from his one and only film, and Judy With all due respect to Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and Benji, the greatest movie canine of all time could hardly be anyone other than Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Consider: millions and millions of moviegoers, both committed and casual, recognize him by name from his one and only film, and Judy Garland sings "Over the Rainbow" (considered by the American Film Institute and many fans to be the greatest movie SONG of all time) specifically to him. And yet, for the ten minutes (or less) that he's onscreen, Year of the Dog's Pencil the beagle offers Toto some very fierce competition! Pencil is the light in the life of Peggy (Molly Shannon), a sweet, kindhearted, eager-to-please but somewhat socially awkward homebody who's not much more than a background figure in the lives of her relatives, coworkers and friends. (In fact, if a movie had been made about Peggy's numbers-obsessed boss Robin, her husband-hungry buddy Layla or her smug sister Bret and family, Peggy wouldn't even qualify as a supporting character; she'd only appear in one or two expository scenes and what we'd mostly see of her would be the back of her head.) Pencil is the center of Peggy's universe, and vice versa; when Pencil dies accidentally early on, it's no surprise at all that Peggy's life will be totally shattered, because Peggy is for the first time forced to realize what she was only peripherally aware of before: that without Pencil, Peggy really HAS no life. (When, later on, she relates her discovery that a certain very specific word is the first one she's heard that truly describes her, lumps simultaneously grow in throats all throughout the arthouse.) I've always really liked Shannon, whose strangely endearing nervous energy made her SNL movies A Night at the Roxbury and Superstar a lot less of a viewing chore, but she's phenomenal here: without begging for sympathy or striking a false note, she negotiates all the steps from ripping your heart out to just plain scaring it out of you. Shannon's work is to 2007 what Maggie Gyllenhaal's portrayal of a paroled substance abuser trying to reclaim her child was to Sherrybaby in 2006: a remarkably subtle, nuanced interpretation of a terrific woman's role that nevertheless could have, with the wrong actress, lent itself to all kinds of showboating and scenery-chewing but absolutely never does here. (And unfortunately, the Motion Picture Academy will undoubtedly pay as much attention to Shannon's work as it did to Gyllenhaal's. C'mon, Oscar: Shannon manages to be utterly believable here in spite of the fact that in real life she's allergic to dogs! Doesn't she deserve some recognition for sacrificing for her art?) Mike White's script and direction are completely worthy of his lead actress: he satirizes the people in Peggy's world without ever demonizing them (even the boorish hunter who's her next door neighbor); he charts Peggy's journey from despair to emptiness to social involvement to fanaticism to madness to ambiguity with a mathematical precision that only seems casually observed...and his much-criticized "let's have everybody seem to talk to the audience" method of staging and camera placement isn't an indie affectation at all, but the absolutely perfect means to depict Peggy's relationship and status with her acquaintances: except in a handful of shots in which others share the frame with her, Peggy is perpetually isolated. While her devotion to a cause is certainly admirable up to a point, it's hard not to wonder if (as is often the case with people who join extremist groups or religious cults) Peggy would've immersed herself so deeply into veganism and animal rights if, at the time she needed them so desperately, Layla, Bret or anyone else had taken an afternoon off to spend with her, or let her cry on their shoulder as long as she needed to, or just really listened to her. The beauty of Year of the Dog is that even though its central themes largely and necessarily deal with how we treat or mistreat animals, at the end of the day it really made me want to treat PEOPLE with more kindness.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

BlancoA.

Apr 15, 2007

Very much a Mike White movie - you leave the theater thinking about it (and wondering what to think, in my case). Every couple of minutes during the film I thought to myself, "Wow... Molly Shannon is really nailing this part." She walks a VERY careful tightrope in not overplaying her part, Very much a Mike White movie - you leave the theater thinking about it (and wondering what to think, in my case). Every couple of minutes during the film I thought to myself, "Wow... Molly Shannon is really nailing this part." She walks a VERY careful tightrope in not overplaying her part, making he character seem overly bizarre or goofy. It's her minimalist approach, together with great supporting actors like John C. Reilly and Laura Dern which really make this a solid film. It's just the subject matter that's a little off-putting, but that is, I suppose the point. What will PETA think??… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

AndrewK.

May 27, 2007

Wow. I can't believe how harsh some of these reviews were. I consider myself to be a good judge when it comes to films. I guess I can see some of the things that people are saying, but I loved this film myself. Molly Shannon, while I worried at first that I wouldn't be able to Wow. I can't believe how harsh some of these reviews were. I consider myself to be a good judge when it comes to films. I guess I can see some of the things that people are saying, but I loved this film myself. Molly Shannon, while I worried at first that I wouldn't be able to take her serious due to her facial expressions reminding me so much of her silly characters on SNL, really surprised the hell out of me. She was amazing. I hope that this will bring her more work, because she is very good. I completely related to the way she would be the good listener with everyone she knew even though she really wasn't as interested in them as she pretended to be. Maybe that sounds shallow of me, but I think that a lot of people make their problems out to be so important to the people around them and sometimes all you can do is nod and humor them. Maybe some of the characters were a little one dimensional, but I don't really expect much more depth in these peripheral characters. I think the point is that she's not really all that interested in them because they actually do lack depth. Needless to say, I thought that Laura Dern and Peter Saarsgard and Regina King and Josh Pais did a great job. They were all irritating in some way, especially Laura Dern, who reminded me of some of the parents my mother has to put up with as a teacher. I can see how some would compare Mike White's directorial style to Jarod Hess. It did have a Napoleon Dynamite type feel, and it even featured one of the same songs near the end of the film. This was a very sweet movie and I think that the statements it makes about animal cruelty are actually very important and are not meant to be taken as a joke. Molly Shannon's character is very real. I felt great sympathy for her. I don't know what separates the people that don't like this movie from those that do, and so I think that it deserves a shot from all movie lovers.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

BillyS.

Apr 30, 2007

Don't be expecting an extended SNL sketch because Year Of The Dog is a serio-comic story of a dog loving lonely plain jane whose life is reduced to shambles when her "cuter than a button" pooch named Pencil is found dead. Molly Shannon could have gone way over the top in this role but Don't be expecting an extended SNL sketch because Year Of The Dog is a serio-comic story of a dog loving lonely plain jane whose life is reduced to shambles when her "cuter than a button" pooch named Pencil is found dead. Molly Shannon could have gone way over the top in this role but instead plays her desperation to find some kind of replacement with such subtlety that you ache for her even in the comedic moments. The supporting cast of Laura Dern, Thomas McCarthy, John C. Reilly, Peter Sarsgaard, Regina King and Josh Pais add to her bewilderment as Shannon eventually melts down not once, but twice on her way to discover that the love of a dog is for her- enough and that alone is her reason to carry on.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

JakeT.

Jun 17, 2007

"Year of the Dog" is a movie which started out well but lost its momentum as it proceeded. Although the casting was excellent, especially in the supporting characters, the movie became a pro-PETA diatribe by the halfway point. The main character, Peggy, is impossible to empathize with as "Year of the Dog" is a movie which started out well but lost its momentum as it proceeded. Although the casting was excellent, especially in the supporting characters, the movie became a pro-PETA diatribe by the halfway point. The main character, Peggy, is impossible to empathize with as she becomes a crazy dog lady, and there is simply no reasonable message to take from the film.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

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