Year of the Dog Details

2007

Rated:
50
from 1068 members

A secretary's life changes in unexpected ways after her dog dies. Read more

Starring	Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard, Regina King, John C. Reilly
Director	Mike White
Genres	Drama

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Year of the Dog

A secretary's life changes in unexpected ways after her dog dies.

Starring	Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard, Regina King, John C. Reilly, Laura Dern, Steve Berg, Craig Cackowski, Brenda Canela, Chuck Duffy, Sonya Eddy, Nicholas Garren, Inara George, Dale Godboldo, Dan Kapelovitz, Josh Pais, Tom McCarthy
Director	Mike White
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 37 mins
Certificate
Genres	Drama
Language	DVD: English
Released	DVD: 25 Feb 2008 Production year: 2007
Format	DVD

Critics' reviews of Year of the Dog
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Peggy (Molly Shannon) is in love with her dog Pencil. They eat together, watch TV together, even snuggle up in bed... read more on Time Out
- David Jenkins,
- Time Out
- Posted 04 Nov 2008
Most helpful member's review of Year of the Dog
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21 out of 29 people found this review helpful

[Highly rated reviewer]

Year of the Dog

Year of the Dog's trailer is a bald faced lie. It paints the film as a sweet, funny rom-com featuring Molly Shannon's previously unsociable Peggy emerging from her shell when her dog dies and being pursued by odd neighbour John C Reilly and nice vet Peter Sarsgaard. That would have been better than the muddle this film actually is.

It does start out funny with a good performance from Shannon and brilliant support from Reilly and from Laura Dern as the world's most neurotic parent but once Sarsgaard enters the picture and his character makes Shannon's an animal activist the film falls apart. The big problem is that Peggy becomes less likeable with each passing scene, her actions are often reprehensible and the turnabout in her character is never convincing. Worse the movie seems to want us to side with Peggy, even at her worst, and never really makes her take consequences for her actions. There's still the odd good joke but I felt like I was being preached at by someone I didn't like for the last hour of the film, a deep disappointment from Mike White.
- - SAI81 from Tonbridge
  - Posted 09 Sep 2007 10:54
Most recent members' review of Year of the Dog
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful

[Highly rated reviewer]

This is NOT a comedy

Like me, you may have seen the trailer for this movie and be expecting a quirky indie romantic comedy. Unfortunately, it is yet another case of the marketing men distorting the truth in order to get more behinds on seats.

This film is actually more of a drama about the life changing effects on a mousey spinster when she loses her beloved dog to an accidental poisoning. Her beagle, Pencil, was the only one who loved Peggy unconditionally, whereas all the humans in her life want to impose their idea of happiness upon her and can't understand what she gained from the relationship. As a result, Peggy's loss unleashes a tide of self-destructive behaviour and it would seem a complete breakdown is not far over the horizon. To tell you anymore would ruin the story which (to its credit) does not always take the obvious path.

What you do need to know is that while there are some subtle laughs in the script, there are also moments of bleakness. Do not watch this if you are feeling blue.

It should also be noted that Molly Shannon is outstanding in her first leading role and is completely believable on her tragicomic journey. The rest of the cast have less sympathetic characters to play, but still offer solid support.

So long as you do not have the wrong expectations, this is a decent little movie about self-discovery.
- - SimonB from Southampton
  - Posted 23 Mar 2008 13:49
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