Year of the Dog

Plot synopsis:
Shannon stars as Peggy, a forty-something administrative assistant whose social and love life are slim to nil. Her most intimate bond is with her dog, Pencil. One morning Pencil refuses to come in after being let out to do his business, and a half-awake Peggy lets him stay outside overnight. The next morning she finds him in the yard of her neighbor Al (John C. Reilly) whimpering in pain. She takes him to a vet but it is too late; Pencil dies of toxic poisoning.
The people in her life react with sympathy but mostly make her feel guilty for her grief. Best friend Layla (Regina King) tells Peggy her relationship with Pencil had held her back from finding romance. Her emotionally sterile sister-in-law (Laura Dern) and brother Pier (Thomas McCarthy) are too self-absorbed to sense how deeply hurt Peggy is.
Peggy's neighbor, Al, asks Peggy on a date. It starts out well until Al reveals that he lost his own pet dog by accidentally shooting it in a hunting accident. When the two return to his home he shows off his knife collection and hunting trophies. He is oblivious to Peggy's distaste for this. She asks to see his garage, suspicious that something inside poisoned Pencil. Al makes a pass which she rejects in disgust.
Peggy gets a call from Newt (Peter Sarsgaard), a volunteer at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who was present when Pencil died. He tells Peggy he has a new dog she may like to adopt: Valentine, a King Shepherd with behavioral problems. Newt agrees to help train Valentine, and he and Peggy begin to spend a lot of time together.
Through Newt, Peggy is exposed to veganism and to animal rights information. She becomes a vegan and begins helping Newt to adopt out various animals slated for euthanasia. Chastised by her boss Robin (Josh Pais) for her commitment, she retaliates by donating to various animal-related charities from his checkbook.
Peggy and Newt share a kiss, Newt declining to go any further, which she mistakes for chivalry. She confesses she has fallen in love; Newt reveals that he is celibate, implying he is asexual. Peggy reacts badly, shutting out Newt and instead focusing on her new relationship with Valentine. Valentine's sporadically violent behavior worsens without Newt's instruction; he bites Peggy's hand. The dog also continually barks, causing Al to complain. Peggy responds rudely, insinuating that it is her revenge because she thinks something in his garage must have poisoned Pencil.
Peggy's interest in animal rights deepens, particularly the causes to stop animal testing and of farm communities for animals who were previously meant to die. Her new belief system is looked at flippantly by her brother and sister-in-law; when she announces she is a vegan, he responds: "It will be interesting to see how long this lasts."
On New Year's Eve weekend Peggy agrees to babysit her brother's children. She leaves Valentine in the care of Newt. She takes her young niece Lissie (Amy Schlagel, Zoe Schlagel) and nephew Benji to a farm for rescued animals to introduce them to an "adopted" chicken (a charity sponsorship) she got them for Christmas. Intensely moved by the experience, Peggy has a mini-breakdown in the car. She wants to show them a slaughterhouse, but the children freak out.
Peggy gets drunk and discovers a rack of furs in her sister-in-law's closet. She tries them on in a bathroom and ultimately passes out drunk. Furs she left in the bathtub are ruined from the faucet's drip. She goes to Newt's to pick up Valentine and finds Newt weeping. Valentine killed a crippled dog named Buttons, and Newt sent Valentine to be put down because he knew Peggy did not have the fortitude to do so.
She rushes to the dog pound but is too late; Valentine has been dead for two hours. Peggy suffers a mental break and adopts 15 dogs slated to die; she lies, saying she works with the SPCA and intends to find them all homes. Peggy at work is confronted by her boss. He has discovered the fraudulent checks and she is fired.
Peggy's life falls apart. She barely leaves her home, which is practically destroyed by her new pets. Al complains, saying if she does not find a way to control them he will. While she is out, Newt visits, confiscates the dogs and leaves a warning notice from the SPCA. Peggy erroneously blames Al.
She sneaks into Al's house and finds molluscicide with a hole chewed into the corner, confirming her suspicions about Pencil's death. Zombie-like, she drags the bag through the house, leaking poison pellets everywhere. She takes one of Al's hunting knives and hides. When Al and a girlfriend return home, Peggy attacks with the knife. Al wrestles it away from her and calls the police.
Peggy's brother and sister-in-law try to help. They say Peggy's boss has decided if she pays back everything and goes to counselling he will rehire her. They ask why Peggy attacked Al. She says she wanted him to know what it felt like to be hunted.
Peggy returns to work and is greeted warmly. But soon an internet search leads her to information about an upcoming animal rights protest. She sends an email to her coworkers (including Layla), boss, Newt, brother and sister-in-law. She must follow her soul. She abandons her former life and heads off to the protest, content that fighting for animals is her greater reason for living (as opposed to child-rearing, career, or intimate human relationships).

Tags: romantic, psychedelic, flashback

Review:
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.
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.
White's story is more traditional and warm than most of Solondz's work, though, many viewers will likely find "dog" exclusively "too depressing" or just "funny", and probably not "funny" enough.Overall: Really lovely and well crafted little film that is both serious and silly, without being melodramatic or wacky: a triumph considering the subject matter.
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".
It's a plain vanilla existence for her, until a shattering event happens in her dull little world of routine.Peggy's world expands, and she considers many things previously unknown to her.She tries on new ideas, and in her own way finds her own "obsession" that also is less selfish than the paths chosen by others around her.People who are unexcited by a purpose are pretty dull, but if we need to find something to give our lives direction and substance, why not choose an interest that helps others, including animals?
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.
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.
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.
At the end of the movie, in an incredibly gutsball move by Mike White, the leading character discovers her bliss and realizes that she doesn't have to live and interact with the normal run of people in order to do some good in this world.I understand how the completely unique story arc has left some viewers in the dust.
But for me this is an absolutely great, unmissable, cataclysmic achievement, one which should (and probably won't) garner Oscar nominations for White and Molly Shannon.Peggy isn't even someone I'd ever care to know in the real world.
It is surprising to realize that Mike White has not directed a film till now, because he's such a distinct film presence, but it's also disappointing that 'Year of the Dog' is such a distasteful and ultimately tedious effort, perhaps too much of a good thing.
White is involved in movies of the kind I like to call "Todd Solondz lite." In them strange people get involved in situations that are uncomfortable to watch, but it's never made clear what we're supposed to think; the filmmakers themselves don't seem to be able to make up their minds.
Peggy (comedy actress Molly Shannon, and not a very interesting actress or someone you want to look at through a whole movie) is an office worker who has no life.
That is a routine "Solodnz lite" ending; but while such movies have at times been surprising and thought-provoking, this one is simply odd and irritating and hard to sit through.There are excruciating things in 'Year of the Dog' but also implausible ones.
The only time I felt any emotional attachment to any of the characters is when the retarded dog died, and thats only because the woman who supposedly loved her dog went back to bed and left him outside, oh and I have a beagle too.
As it is, she does a rather admirable job of portraying someone who is finally finding herself.Molly Shannon, as Peggy, finds out about the way animals are treated in the food industry and decides to go vegan.
Sad and pathetic in the middle, and to my mind, sad and pathetic at the end.Molly is lovely and acts well, but VERY few laughs in the movie.And if you think "I love dogs" -- don't see this cuz the dogs don't come out so well.(Also -- No cute guys.) Why do so many great comedy actors (Robin Williams, Jim Carrey) decide to suddenly turn dramatic?
Maybe they should get Al Gore to be in their movie the next time and have him stump it all over the country like "An Inconvenient Truth" The PETA folks will probably like this film, but REALLY, the writers could have done a better job of telling this story.The editor and director must have had a terrible time looking for scenes to put together to pad this thing to 1 3/4 hours.
The trailers made it look like a funny movie that would appeal to dog and animal lovers.
Every time I know about an animal cruelty case, I get an overwhelming feelings like things are crashing in on me.I never though I would find the answers in a film.
Take this, and sprinkle in a little bit of sub-text to do with contemporary suburban America and the oddballs one would seemingly encounter within such an environment, and you have what people like to describe as an "off beat" film trying to cover some serious ground, albeit getting tangled up somewhat in the process.Year of the Dog's lead is Molly Shannon's Peggy, a middle aged American woman living alone in a nice American neighbourhood, on a nice estate, in a decent house and with her pride and joy in the form of her pet dog she names Pencil.
Trips to family members Bret and Pier feel unnecessary; the mutual affiliation she has with Newt (Sarsgaard), a pound working animal specialist, are tied up in there somewhere while a sub-plot to do with co-worker Layla's man having an affair known only to Peggy is dropped in for good measure.On the overly positive side, Shannon does well to carry the film; doing so with that look about her face, that expression which constantly suggests a deeper, more unremitting sense of tragedy and pain beneath an exterior which you could be told is one of a joyous person, and yet still be moved to ask questions.
Things connect and link up with one another uneasily in Year of the Dog, and the electricity is only sporadic in its arriving to the forefront; the idea of the grief and confusion born out of the death of a pet not working quite so well as other ideas did in the aforementioned examples, but making for a film straddling a line between blackly comedic urban drama and a flat-out tragedy asking us to just break down at get seriously upset.
Since I was warned this was a comedy and there was "Dog" in the title, I was expecting something like "Turner & Hooch", but the beginning led me to believe this was really going to be a tear-jerking downer - But, perhaps that is the point - for some people it is funny that people have such strong feelings about pets.Being Vegan could be funny, rescuing dogs could be funny, eating meat could be funny, being single could be funny, but lonely people with a lot of pets is not that funny - it's actually a bit sad.
Anyone who's ever felt an activist instinct -- even a mild one -- should be able to relate to "Year of the Dog." Molly Shannon, in an impressive display of dramatic acting ability, gives a fearlessly unflattering performance as Peggy, a woman whose life unravels when her beloved dog dies.
Reilly is a next-door neighbor whose love of hunting serves as a catalyst for some of Peggy's most anti-social behavior; Peter Saarsgard is a volunteer for an animal rescue shelter whom Peggy would like to like but who doesn't like her back; Regina King is a fellow co-worker who acts as the closest thing to a confidant Peggy has."Year of the Dog" is surprisingly meaty, and it makes a lot of interesting observations about people who believe in causes and the need for those people to be wary of the line between staying committed to their beliefs and trying to force their beliefs on others.
Peggy isn't very likable for much of the movie, but Shannon lets us see that she's a deeply good person who's in the wrong environment.
Circumstances for her get more and more ridiculous as she begins to embrace veganism and animal rights activism, to the detriment of what few relationships she has with people.While it is understandable that we can lose some rooting interest for Peggy as she goes over the deep end, she's still a somewhat sympathetic and relatable character, at least for viewers who've never really "fit in".
When Peggy loses her dog Pencil ( who she loves dearly!), she finds her life spinning totally out of control.
She becomes vegan, becomes an animal rights activist, and rescues more pets then she can handle at the same time ( with disastrous results.) While it is a comedy, Year Of The Dog doesn't rely heavily on the comedy side.
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.
I went to the theater knowing virtually nothing about this movie - besides the fact that Molly Shannon was in it (who I love.) So my friend and I asked the person who gave us our tickets to it what it was about, though we only got a 3-word summary, it was enough.
She also does partake in a lot of things - behavioral aspects and even looking the part - of, basically, an old woman living with too many cats, but for comedic effect (which I also don't think most people got.) This movie isn't actually all comedy, though.
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.
White, writer of indie faves CHUCK AND BUCK and THE GOOD GIRL, makes his directorial debut with the simple tale of one woman, whose tightly wound life of disappointment unravels after the death of her dog, a beautiful beagle named Pencil.
Perhaps the bait and switch marketing approach which found me viewing a vastly different movie.The movie I viewed delivered a very dark story (albeit some funny moments) that chronicles the emotional deconstruction of Peggy in all its depressing fashion, from frame one to film's end, to wit:Peggy's beloved dog Pencil tragically dies of toxic poisoning.
I love animals, but this movie shows how some people can get so unhealthily obsessed with things that it controls their whole life.
And no animal pound in existence would entrust another fifteen dogs to the care of such a person, no matter what credentials they claimed.I suggest that the writer of this awful, awful piece of work has some deep issues with animals - and is completely incapable of understanding that love and empathy are not the sole province of human-to-human relationships, but rightfully - and healthily - should extend to a genuine care for all creatures - great and small.I could list many, many other ways in which this movie's portrayal of people who care about animals was screamingly unrealistic.
After reading the other reviews, I don't agree that this is a movie that PETA would love since it portrays an animal rights activist as an embezzling, slightly deranged loner who mistreats the dogs in her care and has no life, no friends, etc.
By the end of the movie, most viewers will be convinced that Molly Shannon's character is a real fruitcake.
I love dogs, and even I got creeped out by Molly Shannon as Peggy less than halfway through the film.
Instead of loving and appreciating dogs, Peggy instead obsesses about them, transforming dogs and other animals into replacements for family, friends, a job, and eventually her sanity.The worst part of the film, in my estimation, comes when her brother and sister-in-law leave her in charge of their kids for a holiday.
After that, Peggy goes downhill quickly, attempting to murder her next-door neighbor and winds up getting briefly committed to a psych ward, then released into her brother's care.And yet, at the end of this dreary 97 minutes (which feels strangely like 127 minutes), the film celebrates Peggy's transformation as she happily leaves the job she got back in some sort of ridiculous miracle after embezzling funds from her boss, to join an animal-rights activist caravan to protest meat-eating everywhere.
That's the other point of the movie; the way her various friends begin to accept love in their lives (through adopting pets at Peggy's insistence) shows how they are also being redeemed.
Plus a nice knife collection.Peter Sarsgaard is Newt, the slightly off-center animal lover.One problem I have with this movie is all the characters are strange, and not by just a little bit.
Molly Shannon, best known for her comedic talents on SNL, brings a melancholy depth to her sad sack character as she grows out of her skin into a different person despite friends like Regina King and Laura Dern wanting her to stay the same.
YEAR OF THE DOG (2007) ***1/2 Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, Regina King, Thomas McCarthy, Josh Pais, John C.
So I can relate to this movie a lot - when I watched Molly Shannon's performance I think "There but for the grace of God..." This is one of those rewarding films that you can watch and re-watch and get something new from it each time.
Peggy (Molly Shannon) is devastated when her pet dog dies - it's the most important relationship in her life - and while the death of a pet is sad, probably most of the audience won't get her extreme reaction.
Newt introduces Peggy to veganism and animal rights, and although they have similar interests, he isn't capable of responding romantically to her - so Peggy returns to giving all of her love to animals - having noted that human beings have continually disappointed her (perhaps it's telling that Newt bears more than a passing resemblance to Peggy's own brother - and their relationship is certainly more brother and sister than lovers).However, as the film progresses, Peggy's love/obsession for animals starts to lead her to odd places - she traumatises her niece by telling her the harsh truth about the meat industry, she embezzles money from her boss, writing out cheques in his name to animal charities, she blackmails her friend's finance into adopting a dog, she ends up adopting 15 dogs and then breaks into her neighbours' house in order to "hunt" him, so that that he knows what it feels like.
Is the main character in Year of the Dog a pathetic woman who is pushed over the edge into animal rights lunacy by the terrible death of her beloved Pencil?
Mike White's "Year of the Dog" stars Molly Shannon as Peggy, a frail, submissive, emotionally sensitive woman who spends her days taking abuse, being snidely judged and dutifully working at a dull, white collar job.
Molly Shannon gives a tour-de-force performance as Peggy, a young Southern California woman who seems to have a much easier time relating to animals than she does to people.
Her co-workers, her relatives, the big-game-hunting neighbor next door, the animal-rescue worker who's so turned off by humans that he has opted for a life of celibacy - all become part of the tapestry of bizarreness that White has woven for the film.In terms of the acting, Shannon is only part of the story, for the film boasts one of the best ensemble casts I've seen in a movie in quite some time, with Regina King, Laura Dern, John C.
Reilly and Peter Sarsgaard, among others, all turning in finely-tuned, delightful performances.I'm sure that we have all known at least one person like Peggy in our lives, so I think that on some level just about everyone - canine-lover or not - can identify with this film.
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.
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.
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.
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..
Maybe I will give it a chance someday but anyway, unlike with The Good Girl I do had interest in seeing Year of the Dog, a film that was not only written by Mike White but also directed by him, making it his debut as director.
Reilly) so the unknown Molly Shannon plays the main character, she is Peggy.