Mike White's Year of the Dog wants to be both a hilarious and important film. Casting Molly Shannon as Peggy, the world's best dog owner, serves the first purpose and making a film about animal cruelty fulfills the second. Sort of.
The first half is great. White carefully balances his tremendous humor with deeply heartfelt scenes of grief when Peggy's pup, Pencil, suddenly dies. Shannon performs expertly. We laugh with her, we laugh at her preposterous friends and boss, we cry with her, we hope for something more meaningful in her life with her... The story builds and propels itself with solid character development. Most people in this film are not what they first appear to be, unlike the canines whose personalities are defined and clear from the outset.
But then the second half loses momentum just when the energy starts to build and the setups start to pay off. Peggy's life unravels spectacularly as she makes desperate attempts at doing the right thing. Hilarity ensues--but it was an uncomfortable funny, not ha-ha funny. I found myself thinking, often, that Peggy was quite disturbing and sad, and who wants to feel guilty for laughing at loneliness and desperation? But then there are good moments: When Peggy tries to take her young niece to a slaughterhouse, when she tries to kill a neighbor with one of his own hunting knives, when she takes on the care of 15 strays and the dogs tear up the house, it's all kinda funny, but also unsettling. I suppose I never really understood the tone of this film, but I don't blame Shannon or the supporting characters (or the dogs). I think it comes back to the script and the challenge the White set for himself. The message about how we've come to ignore animal cruelty is insightful and plaintive. But slapping it on top of a comedic premise belittles its import and ultimately made this a quasi-enjoyable and quasi-uncomfortable film to watch.
