JimBell
Posts 94
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4/17/2008 12:14 AM
posted awhile ago
Year of the Dog
I liked Year of the Dog (2007), but, as someone said, it is woefully uneven. The key word there is “woefully,” because the core of the movie (mainly the script) is very good, but the execution is sometimes amateurish. I enjoyed the story, partly because I have a dog, but mainly because it has something worthwhile to say and says it in an unpredictable way. The movie makes the point that everyone is weird in some way, even those who seem extremely normal, and the main character, Peggy (Molly Shannon) is unusual in ways that are not as socially acceptable. Goodness knows, this point needs to made repeatedly in our society! Once Peggy’s little beagle dies of poisoning, do you think she’ll be happy to replace him with a German Shepherd? Once Peggy falls for the animal shelter guy, do you think he’ll reciprocate and they’ll live happily ever after with their dogs? No way! Peggy’s spiral into a nervous breakdown is convincing and believable. When her anal-retentive boss agrees to take her back as his admin assistant and then the office welcomes her back, do you think she will gratefully return to her old life? Not now that she has figured a few things out about herself and her society. One reason this drama sometimes seems a bit amateurish is that it has vague notions of being a comedy. To clear up the goofy notion that it is a comedy, let’s summarize the plot once again: A lonely woman’s beloved dog is poisoned and she slowly becomes unhinged, losing her new dogs and her long-standing job. In the process, she learns a lot about her society and discovers her unusual passion in life. Half the actors are in a drama: Molly Shannon is excellent as the lonely middle-aged woman finding herself, Laura Dern is perfect as an obsessive upper middle class mother, and Peter Sarsgaard is moving as the androgynous animal shelter worker. But the other half of the actors are sort of in a comedy. Peggy’s boss is ridiculously repressed, her co-worker is over-the-top exuberant, and her neighbour is a stereotypical red neck. While the credit must go to Mike White for a very good script (it was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award), the fault must also rest with him as a first-time director for not keeping the genre and tone of the movie on an even keel. What did you think of this flick?
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mercurial
Posts 148
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4/17/2008 1:17 AM
posted awhile ago
Re:Year of the Dog
 JimBell:I liked Year of the Dog (2007), but, as someone said, it is woefully uneven. The key word there is “woefully,” because the core of the movie (mainly the script) is very good, but the execution is sometimes amateurish. I enjoyed the story, partly because I have a dog, but mainly because it has something worthwhile to say and says it in an unpredictable way. The movie makes the point that everyone is weird in some way, even those who seem extremely normal, and the main character, Peggy (Molly Shannon) is unusual in ways that are not as socially acceptable. Goodness knows, this point needs to made repeatedly in our society! Once Peggy’s little beagle dies of poisoning, do you think she’ll be happy to replace him with a German Shepherd? Once Peggy falls for the animal shelter guy, do you think he’ll reciprocate and they’ll live happily ever after with their dogs? No way! Peggy’s spiral into a nervous breakdown is convincing and believable. When her anal-retentive boss agrees to take her back as his admin assistant and then the office welcomes her back, do you think she will gratefully return to her old life? Not now that she has figured a few things out about herself and her society. One reason this drama sometimes seems a bit amateurish is that it has vague notions of being a comedy. To clear up the goofy notion that it is a comedy, let’s summarize the plot once again: A lonely woman’s beloved dog is poisoned and she slowly becomes unhinged, losing her new dogs and her long-standing job. In the process, she learns a lot about her society and discovers her unusual passion in life. Half the actors are in a drama: Molly Shannon is excellent as the lonely middle-aged woman finding herself, Laura Dern is perfect as an obsessive upper middle class mother, and Peter Sarsgaard is moving as the androgynous animal shelter worker. But the other half of the actors are sort of in a comedy. Peggy’s boss is ridiculously repressed, her co-worker is over-the-top exuberant, and her neighbour is a stereotypical red neck. While the credit must go to Mike White for a very good script (it was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award), the fault must also rest with him as a first-time director for not keeping the genre and tone of the movie on an even keel. What did you think of this flick?
I completely agree. I ultimately loved the film and made a point of buying it when it came out on DVD, but I acknowledge that it does have its moments where you are kind of let down by the direction and flow of it all. Molly Shannon definitely kept it afloat throughout and like you said, Laura Dern and Peter Sarsgaard were great in their respective scenes. The balance of emotions; the high and lows; from tears of sadness to those of gut-busting laughter remain at the heart of the film and make it a great watch.
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