Year of the Dog

Year of the Dog may sound like a movie about Chinese zodiac animals, but in fact it deals with a subject probably quite alien to most native Chinese people, or any other developing countries for that matter. Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon plays Peggy, a secretary with a strong bond to her dog Pencil. After Pencil dies unexpectedly of toxic poisoning, her world turns completely upside down.

The film’s writer/director Mike White has quite a diverse writing resume, ranging from Jack Black star vehicles The School of Rock and Nacho Libre to indie darlings Chuck & Buck and The Good Girl. I have yet to see Chuck & Buck, but compared with the other three, Year of the Dog is his best work to date and also marks his directorial debut. In his interview with Los Angeles Times reporter John Horn, White said, “The idea of the movie is to embrace nonconformity.” To me, it is even more than that - it is also about our alienation with each other in current society. Peggy has so much love to give, but unfortunately nobody truly understands her and accepts her. The only creature who loves her unconditionally is her beagle Pencil. Pencil’s death is heartbreaking, but even more heartrending is the indifference and lack of sincere sorrow shown for Peggy’s grief. People around her all say they are sorry, but then are eager to move on to their lives or discuss what is really on their minds. It also reveals Peggy’s character to a new level – even under such duress, she still shows patience and compassion toward other people’s problems. In the end, it is her little niece that connects with her and summarizes her well, “Aunt Peggy, you love animals.” Why can’t we, the adults, keep all these simple understandings and tolerance?

Even though the movie is only 97 minutes long, White packs it with many interesting and different characters beside Peggy. Peggy’s two potential suitors are two polar extremes: one is an avid hunter and the other is a vegan. Her relationships with the two are also two case studies in love: in one she is being pursued and in the other she is the pursuer. Then there is her neurotic boss, marriage-obsessed best friend, her upper middle class brother and his unbearable wife. White’s script is full of crisp dialogue, unexpected turns and twists. The time flew in this movie and when it ended, I wasn’t ready to part with any of these characters.

White said that he wrote the script with Molly Shannon in mind and Shannon doesn’t disappoint us. She approaches all the dramatic moments in this movie with the same slightly overstated and stiff movements she frequently used in her SNL days to a less extent, but she doesn’t play it for the laughs and her demeanor and expressions fit the character perfectly in this case. She conveys Peggy’s social awkwardness with ease and grace. Laura Dern also gives one of her best performances in this movie. She plays Peggy’s sister-in-law Bret and captures her upper middle class superficiality to the bone. Because White himself is an established comedian, there are a lot of familiar funny faces in this movie, however, don’t let that fool you. The movie is not a comedy contrary to what the promotional trailer wants you to believe. At one point of the movie, I actually wonder how many tragedies White will pile up on Peggy. There are quite a few sad moments in this movie, but to White’s credit, he doesn’t dwell on it with sentimentality and sprinkles the whole movie with many realistic comic interludes instead of those typical cheap, low-brow humor found in so many comedies today. The movie’s ending does seem a bit abrupt and too neat, but after so much gloom, the audience perhaps deserves a little perk in the spirits. The optimist in me also would like to believe that our country, after all, is still a nice place.

While watching Year of the Dog, I did occasionally felt guilty. While the world is full of hungry people and war-torn regions, I am mourning for our cruelty toward animals. Nevertheless, through this movie, White teaches us that love is all encompassing and we are all unique individuals. Some of us may fight injustices on a much larger scale while others start with small things right around them. If we learn to be kind to all living creatures and accept people for who they are, we are indeed mastering the art to be a better person.