Don't be expecting an extended SNL sketch because Year Of The Dog is a serio-comic story of a dog loving lonely plain jane whose life is reduced to shambles when her "cuter than a button" pooch named Pencil is found dead. Molly Shannon could have gone way over the top in this role but instead plays her desperation to find some kind of replacement with such subtlety that you ache for her even in the comedic moments. The supporting cast of Laura Dern, Thomas McCarthy, John C. Reilly, Peter Sarsgaard, Regina King and Josh Pais add to her bewilderment as Shannon eventually melts down not once, but twice on her way to discover that the love of a dog is for her- enough and that alone is her reason to carry on.… Expand

The movie is an hour and a half of awkward silence interrupted now and then by drab caricatures. The actors are all good, but the characters are unlikeable and unbelievable. So many elements rang false I don't know where to begin. A neurotic woman who is terrified of allergies has 4 fur coats? In Southern California? I'll admit that I was biased by the trailers which portrayed the movie as a quirky romantic comedy, but I love dark, eccentric character studies and this was just tedious.… Expand

Dreadfully trite and completely vapid. Molly Shannon's acting is superb throughout the film, however, the main 'love' affair of the film is entirely unbelievable and one-dimensional. The script is poorly written and every character outside of Peggy (Molly Shannon's character) is pathetically simplistic. I understand the main character is supposed to be somewhat of a tragic hero, but the idea of an adult human being with this type of mental tunnel vision able to function without constant care is ridiculous. Next, the plot functions slowly and without purpose, the primary conflict reaches a boiling point only to wrap itself up copasetically without any major consequences. On top of all of this, the film also sucked.… Collapse

And finally, when "Year of the Dog" is on the verge of caricaturizing vegans as hopeless neurotics, the filmmaker dramatizes a sort of disclaimer about animal-rights activists not all being maladjusted loner types like Peggy(Molly Shannon), as we can also see "normal" people on that same bus(en route to a rally), in a closing scene similar to the one in Todd Solondz's "Welcome to the Dollhouse". Peggy isn't alienated to the extent that Dawn Wiener was in the Solondz film, but this could all change, since her vegetarianism is now formally politicized by her forthcoming participation in a public demonstration. Peggy's newfound moral impetus of non-conformity with the social norms(she once aspired towards) will aggravate her social retardation to a degree that platonic relationships(like the benign, but functional interactions she enjoys with her office co-workers), not only potential romantic ones, will elude her as well. When Newt(Peter Saarsgard) indoctrinates Peggy into veganism, he is taking away one of the last vestiges of common ground she shares with ordinary people(which is a natural love for junk food; their reaction to the soy cupcakes is an indicator of Peggy's future). "Year of the Dog" should've gone in a direction more organic to its "Wait Until Dark"-like scene of near-violence, but this barbed comedy is still a pretty grim affair, made all the more sadder by Peggy's heart-on-a-sleeve optimism.… Expand

With all due respect to Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and Benji, the greatest movie canine of all time could hardly be anyone other than Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Consider: millions and millions of moviegoers, both committed and casual, recognize him by name from his one and only film, and Judy Garland sings "Over the Rainbow" (considered by the American Film Institute and many fans to be the greatest movie SONG of all time) specifically to him. And yet, for the ten minutes (or less) that he's onscreen, Year of the Dog's Pencil the beagle offers Toto some very fierce competition! Pencil is the light in the life of Peggy (Molly Shannon), a sweet, kindhearted, eager-to-please but somewhat socially awkward homebody who's not much more than a background figure in the lives of her relatives, coworkers and friends. (In fact, if a movie had been made about Peggy's numbers-obsessed boss Robin, her husband-hungry buddy Layla or her smug sister Bret and family, Peggy wouldn't even qualify as a supporting character; she'd only appear in one or two expository scenes and what we'd mostly see of her would be the back of her head.) Pencil is the center of Peggy's universe, and vice versa; when Pencil dies accidentally early on, it's no surprise at all that Peggy's life will be totally shattered, because Peggy is for the first time forced to realize what she was only peripherally aware of before: that without Pencil, Peggy really HAS no life. (When, later on, she relates her discovery that a certain very specific word is the first one she's heard that truly describes her, lumps simultaneously grow in throats all throughout the arthouse.) I've always really liked Shannon, whose strangely endearing nervous energy made her SNL movies A Night at the Roxbury and Superstar a lot less of a viewing chore, but she's phenomenal here: without begging for sympathy or striking a false note, she negotiates all the steps from ripping your heart out to just plain scaring it out of you. Shannon's work is to 2007 what Maggie Gyllenhaal's portrayal of a paroled substance abuser trying to reclaim her child was to Sherrybaby in 2006: a remarkably subtle, nuanced interpretation of a terrific woman's role that nevertheless could have, with the wrong actress, lent itself to all kinds of showboating and scenery-chewing but absolutely never does here. (And unfortunately, the Motion Picture Academy will undoubtedly pay as much attention to Shannon's work as it did to Gyllenhaal's. C'mon, Oscar: Shannon manages to be utterly believable here in spite of the fact that in real life she's allergic to dogs! Doesn't she deserve some recognition for sacrificing for her art?) Mike White's script and direction are completely worthy of his lead actress: he satirizes the people in Peggy's world without ever demonizing them (even the boorish hunter who's her next door neighbor); he charts Peggy's journey from despair to emptiness to social involvement to fanaticism to madness to ambiguity with a mathematical precision that only seems casually observed...and his much-criticized "let's have everybody seem to talk to the audience" method of staging and camera placement isn't an indie affectation at all, but the absolutely perfect means to depict Peggy's relationship and status with her acquaintances: except in a handful of shots in which others share the frame with her, Peggy is perpetually isolated. While her devotion to a cause is certainly admirable up to a point, it's hard not to wonder if (as is often the case with people who join extremist groups or religious cults) Peggy would've immersed herself so deeply into veganism and animal rights if, at the time she needed them so desperately, Layla, Bret or anyone else had taken an afternoon off to spend with her, or let her cry on their shoulder as long as she needed to, or just really listened to her. The beauty of Year of the Dog is that even though its central themes largely and necessarily deal with how we treat or mistreat animals, at the end of the day it really made me want to treat PEOPLE with more kindness.… Expand

Wow. I can't believe how harsh some of these reviews were. I consider myself to be a good judge when it comes to films. I guess I can see some of the things that people are saying, but I loved this film myself. Molly Shannon, while I worried at first that I wouldn't be able to take her serious due to her facial expressions reminding me so much of her silly characters on SNL, really surprised the hell out of me. She was amazing. I hope that this will bring her more work, because she is very good. I completely related to the way she would be the good listener with everyone she knew even though she really wasn't as interested in them as she pretended to be. Maybe that sounds shallow of me, but I think that a lot of people make their problems out to be so important to the people around them and sometimes all you can do is nod and humor them. Maybe some of the characters were a little one dimensional, but I don't really expect much more depth in these peripheral characters. I think the point is that she's not really all that interested in them because they actually do lack depth. Needless to say, I thought that Laura Dern and Peter Saarsgard and Regina King and Josh Pais did a great job. They were all irritating in some way, especially Laura Dern, who reminded me of some of the parents my mother has to put up with as a teacher. I can see how some would compare Mike White's directorial style to Jarod Hess. It did have a Napoleon Dynamite type feel, and it even featured one of the same songs near the end of the film. This was a very sweet movie and I think that the statements it makes about animal cruelty are actually very important and are not meant to be taken as a joke. Molly Shannon's character is very real. I felt great sympathy for her. I don't know what separates the people that don't like this movie from those that do, and so I think that it deserves a shot from all movie lovers.… Expand

I loved this little movie. It offers so much more than one might expect. Laura Dern (& the guy who plays her hubby) are both dead-on hilarious. I'm a private tutor and I work w/clients like these people daily. I had to avert my eyes during their scenes, it was too painful. Sarsgaard and Shannon both do excellent work, and Josh Pais (the boss) is scarily hilarious. I strongly recommend.

I went in expecting so much more. It was so depressing and it lagged the entire time. Not only that, but I felt guilty for dragging my friend along-he was clearly not amused. Molly Shannon was good, but the movie itself stunk. Sorry Mike White, maybe next time.

Great film- a story I have never seen told and in a very unusal manner, very entertaining.

Thought provoking; not afraid to intermix issues; real; and very enjoyable, cute and fun. This was a great movie.

"Year of the Dog" is a movie which started out well but lost its momentum as it proceeded. Although the casting was excellent, especially in the supporting characters, the movie became a pro-PETA diatribe by the halfway point. The main character, Peggy, is impossible to empathize with as she becomes a crazy dog lady, and there is simply no reasonable message to take from the film.