DVD
REVIEW:
Year Of The Dog
08/28/07
After writing screenplay
for successful films such as Nacho Libre, School of
Rock and The Good Girl. Californian Mike White make his
directorial debut .Mike who also wrote the screenplay
got his inspiration for this film
from personal experience, when a cat that used to live in
his backyard died in his arms. Since then he wanted to create a
different kind of animal related movie.
"Year Of The Dog" is the
story of Peggy (Molly Shannon) a single lonely middle
age women, who feels to only be loved by her dog Pencil.
Peggy's life revolves around Pencil in every way, she
sleeps, watches TV, eats with the dog and even shares her hand lotion
with him. Peggy seems to be
living a happy and relax time with her pet, but everything
will changed when one night in the middle of the night
pencil finds something in the neighbor's yard that will cost
him his life. Devastated by her lost and doomed in her own
pain Peggy's sense of life comes to an end. Family, friends
and co workers will try to cheer her up, but is only up to
Peggy to overcome this pain and find her true purpose in
life.
With strong emotional
and funny scenes Mike White manages to take the audience in
a roller coaster of emotions in the first half of the film.
From the scenes showing the relationship between Peggy
and Pencil, to the unfortunate incident that took her
pet's life, the audience is lead to believe that this is a
story of a lonely soul trying to connect with others and
more specific trying to find a soul mate. For the second
part of the film, Whites' idea of making Peggy an
extreme animal activist takes the film in another
direction. It is at this point that we realize that
Peggy is not only searching for true love with a man, but
for self identity and purpose in life. At the end, it
felt like watching two different films. A film about
relationships and a film about animal rights. Although the
film takes a different direction Mike White manages to get
his point across in a funny and informative way.
Molly Shannon and the
supporting cast did an average job in the film. It
doesn't look like the director took the best out of this
cast. The plot and scenes gave the characters
excellent opportunities to exploit the genre of the film.
However, the script did not allow the characters to develop
in a way that the audience can related to. The
supporting cast Laura Dem and John C. Reilly where out
of character for most part of the film.
At the end Mike White made
a decent debut as writer director, that gives him a nice
foundation for future films.
VIDEO:
Widescreen Enhanced for 16:9 TVs
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound - English Spanish
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional
BONUS FEATURES:
Commentary: Commentary
with Mike White and Molly Shannon :
A Special Breed of Comedy:
The Making of Year of the Dog:
A short 16:19 minutes good documentary
about the film production
featuring director Mike White and the entire cast.
Being Molly Shannon:
A 4:11 minutes featurette where Molly Shannon talk about her
background and how she got in to making this film.
Mike White Unleashed
A 4:19 minutes featurette
where Mike White talk about his experience as film
director.
Special Animal Unit
A 3:45 minutes featurette
where head dog trainer Ursula Brauner talks about how the
animals were trained for this film.
Deleted Scenes (Optional
Deleted Scenes Commentary with director Mike White):
seven deleted scenes
1. Peggy Misses Pencil
2. Cat Hoarder
3. Peggy Isn't ready to Take Valentine
4. "It's Time to Put Your Dog to Bed"
5. Newt and Peggy Get to Know Each Other (extended vers)
6. Newt and Peggy Make Up
7. Peggy and Lissie Commune with the Animals Insert Reel
Bloopers: Gag Reel
Moviefone Unscripted with
Molly Shannon and Mike White
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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VIDEO |
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