For anyone with a pampered pooch, Year of the Dog is a three-hanky movie, but for the rest of us writer-director Mike White has delivered a poignant offbeat comedy, a romantic movie of a different kind.
Following the death of her beloved dog Pencil, office-worker Peggy (Molly Shannon) is forced to re-evaluate her life, a challenge for any woman who has existed solely for the love of her beagle. As friends and family attempt to support her through the grieving process, she fills the void with bad dates, misjudged crushes, and vegan cake baking.
The well-meaning people Peggy meets during the course of the film offer her little in the way of solace, whether it’s co-worker Layla (Regina King), determined to marry Peggy off whilst failing to recognize her own partner has been cheating on her, or Al (John C. Reilly), a friendly neighbour and avid hunter who just happens to collect knives. All this works towards Peggy’s gradual transformation as she struggles to give meaning to her life.
Most significant of all is Peggy’s adoption of a troubled German shepherd from dog trainer Newt (Peter Sarsgaard). Initially attracted to Newt’s own commitment to animals, Peggy feels inspired to become a vegan and fight for a cause, but her new found activism soon spirals out of control. Her attempt to adopt every stray from a dog’s home soon backfires, cue scenes of mass destruction, and her drunken child-minding results in the bathtub drowning of her sister-in-law’s collection of fur coats, cue the hangover from hell.
Despite her strident views, Year of the Dog never judges Peggy for the choices she makes, showing her relationship with animals to be as valid as any other. As Peggy herself puts it, “There are so many kinds of life in this life, so many things to love.” Mike White's protagonist is so well-drawn you can't fail to empathise with her situation, even when her efforts to re-educate her niece and nephew lead to a slightly misguided trip to a local slaughterhouse. Darkly comic, Year of the Dog is ultimately a film about finding and following your bliss, and for that reason alone it’s well worth lapping up.
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