Mike – screenwriter of The Good Girl and School of Rock – White’s Year of the Dog is what I would call a journey film. A sweet, quirk-filled journey film. A sweet, quirk-filled, how-did-it-get-here? journey film. It is Homeward Bound, except it is a person who is finding her way in this one.
The film begins by quickly introducing us to Peggy (Molly Shannon), an – and I say this quite reluctantly – unremarkable woman who is truly, madly, deeply in love with her beagle Pencil.
She loves this cute-as-a-button dog with every fiber of her being, and he loves her back. It’s pretty obvious that Pencil gives Peggy’s life meaning – her brother lives a Stepford Life with his sunny, yet detached wife (Laura Dern), and she doesn’t have that many friends other than her full-of-life co-worker Layla (Regina King) – so it’s a blow of epic proportions when little bugger dies.
The devastating tragedy sends a grief-stricken Peggy on a downward spiral. Her support system isn’t the strongest, so Peggy soon finds solace in…fanatical animal activism.
High jinks and a great deal emotion are at the core of Year of the Dog, which is why it triumphs. And Shannon, peeling off a layer of her persona, anchors the film with a charismatic and sympathetic performance that is just fantastic.
I did feel the film meandered a little, though, as it journeyed to find its and Peggy’s way back home…to a fitting resolution. But like a good, good boy, it did, which is what matters most.
My Rating ***
The film begins by quickly introducing us to Peggy (Molly Shannon), an – and I say this quite reluctantly – unremarkable woman who is truly, madly, deeply in love with her beagle Pencil.She loves this cute-as-a-button dog with every fiber of her being, and he loves her back. It’s pretty obvious that Pencil gives Peggy’s life meaning – her brother lives a Stepford Life with his sunny, yet detached wife (Laura Dern), and she doesn’t have that many friends other than her full-of-life co-worker Layla (Regina King) – so it’s a blow of epic proportions when little bugger dies.
The devastating tragedy sends a grief-stricken Peggy on a downward spiral. Her support system isn’t the strongest, so Peggy soon finds solace in…fanatical animal activism.
High jinks and a great deal emotion are at the core of Year of the Dog, which is why it triumphs. And Shannon, peeling off a layer of her persona, anchors the film with a charismatic and sympathetic performance that is just fantastic.
I did feel the film meandered a little, though, as it journeyed to find its and Peggy’s way back home…to a fitting resolution. But like a good, good boy, it did, which is what matters most.
My Rating ***
Photo: Paramount Vantage.
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