Year of the Dog (6 out of 10)

Perhaps a new genre has been created. The political action dramady. Unfortunately it's a creaky genre. Year of the Dog feels like two separate films glued together about five eighths through. Its a strange fish. Very upbeat and fun at the beginning yet preachy and disturbing at the end. Like a rainbow leading to a pot of mold. This is one of those films that I really wanted to like but it never won me over. The cast were all great. Molly Shannon is fun and not at all annoying, never devolving into using previous tricks. Her character arc is even believable. At least to anyone who has lost a beloved pet. Laura Dern is really fun. She's becoming a master of the suburban housewife. Peter Sarsgaard is good. John C Reilly is John C Reily. Tom McCarthy is spot on as an anal "numbers guy" and Regina King is a constant breath of fresh air. It's feels as if she and Tom are the only ones the director mentioned the tone of the film to. But somewhere in this movie things start falling apart. It gets clunky. It goes too far. It's message is too blatant. Its script has too many holes. I know that there has or will be a trailer created that sucks out all of the funny parts - and there are funny parts - and that people will go see this film. But they will be surprised. Like the ad campaign for Le Divorce which promised a wacky romantic comedy and instead delivered a bizarre piece of crap. Of course once the theater gets your money you're fucked. It isn't like Hollywood offers a money back guarantee. Mike White is a master at creating strange little films that work on the independent financial level, but when you're entering the big budget arena I think he needs more guidance. He's not the type of filmmaker who can go off on his own and make a great film. He's the type who can go off and make an OK film with some really funny bits few and far between. Year of the Dog feels like a first draft that had the misfortune to go into production too early. - Brahman