Year of the Dog...a movie review

Peggy (played by Molly Shannon) is single and she works as a secretary. Her best friend, her bed partner, and her companion is her little Beagle named Pencil. Pencil dutifully sits with Peggy on the couch to watch television each evening and lovingly waits for her to return at the end of each day. Pencil is Peggy's constant. So, when Pencil is suddenly dies in her neighbor's yard, Peggy is devastated. (The neighbor is played by the very ugly John C. Reilly.)

Peggy gets a call from an animal rights activist, Newt (played by Peter Sarsgaard), who gives Peggy a new dog, a German Shepherd named Valentine. [Peter Sarsgaard is incredibly good in this movie. Peggy sort of falls for him. But, he is a self-proclaimed asexual and leads Peggy on, but then backs off and gives asexuality as the reason even though he probably is just gay.] Peggy ends up taking the dog and becoming friends with Newt. He introduces her to veganism and she embraces this for all its worth.

Peggy's animal rights activism ends up getting her into some trouble at work and she even violates the neighborhood code of health when, in a manic-panic move, adopts some twenty dogs at the pound who are to be terminated. She becomes so fixated on her cause that people call her crazy.

All of the actors are great--especially Laura Dern who plays Peggy's sister-in-law. However, the whole reason this movie works is due to Molly Shannon. She brings a vulnerability and a quirkiness to her character that you can't help but love. Shannon's Peggy is getting crazier and crazier through out the movie. But, Peggy is so good to her co-workers and so loyal to her friends and so sweet to her niece and nephew, that Peggy's dip over the edge is more sad than scary. All of the office employees and everyone else in life have their own dramas, their own obstacles(married people: what to make for dinner; dating: is he cheating, is he not?; workers: too much time at the office versus time at home). We all have our thing. Well, Peggy becomes totally obsessed with hers.

We all have our own obligations (that sometimes turn into compulsions). So, it's kind of refreshing to see someone like Peggy--who has sort of rejected the whole marriage and children--break out of conventional expectations to first find a cause worth going crazy for and then actually taking the plunge. She's into animal rights. She goes way over board and ultimately way out of control.

Peggy's free fall into the abyss is really good. You can see her tumble and you're holding out a hand to grasp, but Peggy's already made up her mind that she's determined to hit bottom. We see someone get all the way down to the ground only to have that exhilarating smack give assurance to the validity of the leap. Peggy is not deterred by her eventual total breakdown. It only confirms that this cause she has chosen actually is worth fighting for. It's worth it to her.

Don't worry about this movie turning you vegan. (But, you'll probably think twice about eating chickens.) It might, however, make you determined to find your own passion and maybe even get you excited about the anticipation of your own mental breakdown. Once you recover, your path will be pretty clear.