Year of the Dog (2007)

Any dog-lover would be a fool to pass up this charming dark comedy from director/screenwriter/actor Mike White (THE GOOD GIRL, SCHOOL OF ROCK, CHUCK AND BUCK). Famous for her iconic portrayal of Mary Katherine Gallagher, SNL alum Molly Shannon shows new range here as Peggy, a timid secretary whose whole life revolves happily around her adorable beagle, Pencil. When unspeakable tragedy strikes, Peggy is naturally overcome with grief. But at the same time, the loss of Pencil forces Peggy out of her shell and into the world of people. As a heartbroken Peggy faces pressure to cheer up from her friends and family, she...
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is taken by the genuine empathy of her next door neighbor (John C. Reilly), even if she is appalled by his love of hunting. And just when Peggy thinks she's found a kindred spirit in a sexually ambiguous pet trainer (Peter Sarsgaard), the mixed signals and complexity that make up human nature get in the way. The more she observes her brother, her controlling sister-in-law (Laura Dern), and the supposedly normal but actually twisted life that they live, the more attractive the simpler, purer world of animals appears. Peggy soon realizes that she must follow her true passion and pave her own path, even if it involves a lie here or there in pursuit of a good cause.

While White's offbeat sense of humor can be felt in every moment of the film, the story is also surprisingly sad and touching. Pencil's passing is up there with many of cinema's most heart-wrenching scenes, and Shannon's vulnerability as Peggy is quite moving. YEAR OF THE DOG should appeal to non-pet owners as well, as it boasts wonderful performances by Regina King as Peggy's well-meaning but sometimes clueless friend and coworker, along with Sarsgaard, Reilly, Dern, and Josh Pais as Peggy's testy boss. The film never ridicules Peggy or her love for animals, but defends it as valid, and just as true as any relationship between people.
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An unremarkable administrative assistant finds her life going to the dogs both literally and figuratively in actor/screenwriter-turned-director Mike White's dark comedy drama. An inexplicably cheerful office worker whose somewhat sad excuse for a life seems to revolve around her pet beagle Pencil, Peggy (Molly Shannon) seems to relate better to her four-legged friend than she does to most humans. Most of her person-to-person interaction revolves around doting on other people's children and treating her co-workers to daily donuts, and Peggy just doesn't find much solace in the company of her know-it-all sister-in-...
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law Bret (Laura Dern) or her anxiety-prone boss Robin (Josh Pais). When Peggy's dog Pencil is taken before his time, the devastated dog-lover is wracked with guilt. Now desperate to fill the gaping void that has suddenly opened in her life, Peggy agrees to a date with her gun-nut neighbor Al (John C. Reilly) that ends in disaster when she begins to suspect that the boorish brute may have in fact poisoned her ill-fated pooch. Later, after adopting every dog at the local pound and transforming herself into an overzealous animal-rights activist, the increasingly unhinged Peggy reaches out to asexual activist Newt (Peter Sarsgaard) in a last-grasp attempt at forming a human connection that is met with casual indifference.
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Het verhaal over Peggy (Molly Shannon), een altijd vrolijke en levenslustige secretaresse die single is en woont met haar hond Pencil. Maar dan overlijdt Pencil plotseling en begint er voor Peggy een reis naar haar eigen persoonlijkheid en de transformatie die nodig is om de klap te overkomen.

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