Film Reviews

Year of the Dog

• Rating:
• Director: Mike White.
• Starring: Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Peter Sarsgaard, Laura Dern.
• Details: US / 97mins (PG).

Quirky comedies are coming thick and fast lately with Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach, Jared Hess, Zach Helm and Taika Cohen making recent contributions, but it seems there is room for one more - Mike White. The writer of School Of Rock, The Good Girl and Nacho Libre makes his directorial debut with his pleasant, if lethargic, affair. Shy and reserved Peggy (Shannon) lives for her dog Pencil and no one, not even her edgy boss Robin (Josh Pais), her man-obsessed best friend Layla (Regina King) or her annoying sister-in-law Bret (Dern), gets her down. When Pencil dies, however, it opens up a world Peggy had previously locked out: her next-door neighbour Al (McGinley) takes a fancy to her, she falls for sensitive vegan Newt (Sarsgaard) but more importantly she finds herself. A story about how it's okay to turn your life around and still be unsure of where it's going, Year Of The Dog mixes drama and comedy but not always to good effect. The film is unfocussed and it's unclear if White is making a point for vegans, taking the mickey out of Peggy or both. We do care about Peggy and what happens to her but nothing much happens to her. It's a thin premise and, like Anderson's outings, Year Of The Dog runs out of story in the final act.

Review by Gavin Burke